The library
Learn private lending
Everything the Association publishes about private lending, in the order it makes sense to read it. Each page carries a named author, a publication date, a last-reviewed date and its sources — and each one opens with a plain-English answer, so a single page can be read on its own.
If you read nothing else, read the complete guide and risk and red flags. The first explains the whole subject in sequence; the second is the page most likely to save someone from a bad outcome.
Start here
The definition, and the distinction between lending and investing that decides everything after it.
The complete guide to private lending in South Africa
The whole subject in sequence, with each part linking to the page that treats it in depth.
Reviewed 17 September 20269 min readWhat is private lending?
A working definition, the four things the term is used to mean, and the lending-versus-investing distinction.
Reviewed 17 September 2026How it works
The parties, the paperwork, the pricing, and how capital comes back.
Risk and protection
What security does and does not do, what happens after a default, and the warning signs worth walking away from.
Risk, security and repayment
Forms of security, the risk register in full, recovery in practice, and the warning signs of an arrangement to avoid.
Reviewed 17 September 202611 min readRisk and red flags
The warning signs, the pressure tactics, the ten-minute checks anyone can run, and where to report an arrangement that is wrong.
Reviewed 17 September 2026If you are considering it
Eligibility, entity choice, tax, documents, and the checklist to work through before committing capital.
Compared with the alternatives
Measured against the instruments you already understand, including where private lending is the weaker option.
Private lending compared with a fixed deposit
Nine points of comparison, including deposit insurance, liquidity and what the extra yield is compensating you for.
Reviewed 17 September 20268 min readLocal and offshore private lending compared
Pricing, term, currency, exchange control and tax — set side by side, with the risks unique to each.
Reviewed 17 September 2026Standards and verification
What the Association checks, what each status means, and what verification never means.
Reference
Glossary of private-lending terms
The vocabulary the sector borrows from banking, property law, tax and exchange control — defined in plain English and in its South African sense.
ReferenceHow we workEditorial policy
How this material is researched, sourced, reviewed and corrected, and how editorial work is kept separate from partner interests.
ReferenceThis page explains how something works. It is not financial, legal or tax advice, it takes no account of your circumstances, and nothing here is a recommendation to lend. Private lending places capital at risk.