TRADE, Industry and Competition Minister Parks Tau has backed down.
He has withdrawn draft regulations that would've potentially subjected students to blacklisting for failing to pay outstanding fees.
The controversial National Credit Act amendment regulations draft, published in a government gazette on 13 August, proposed listing educational institutions as originators of credit information, which could've allowed unpaid student fees to be reported to credit bureaus.
"Minister Tau's decision was informed by the overwhelming response, comprising more than 20 000 submissions, that the department received even before the closing date for public comments on 12 September 2025. The vast majority of the responses was opposed to the proposed regulations," the ministry said in a statement.
It further said that the process has demonstrated the robust nature of Mzansi's democracy where the public can engage with government in an open and transparent manner.
Tau committed to undertaking a process which will consider the changes that are required to protect students, while continuing with efforts aimed at improving access to finance for micro, small, and medium enterprises in order to plug the credit funding gap that currently exists.
The EFF has welcomed the regulations withdrawal. However, it warned that the retreat by the Trade, Industry and Competition Department isn't an act of goodwill by the ANC-DA led government, but the direct result of sustained pressure led by the EFF, members of society, professionals, and the youth of South Africa.
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Party spokesman Sinawo Thambo said from the beginning, the EFF rejected these regulations as an attack on the youth and the poor and demanded that they be abandoned in their entirety.
"We formally called for a joint sitting of the Portfolio Committee on Trade, Industry and Competition and the Portfolio Committee on Higher Education to deal with this matter, and we placed it firmly on the national agenda," he said.
He pointed out that the withdrawal came after the EFF Youth Command declared its intention to march to the department in protest against these regulations, mobilising students across the country to prepare for action against the exclusion and punishment of the poor.
He hailed the "heroic and noble efforts" of activists, professionals, and ordinary citizens who submitted more than 20 000 objections to the department before the closing date of public comment on 12 September.
"The people have spoken clearly, and the attempt to blacklist students has been defeated. However, it must be understood that the very fact that the ANC government, in collaboration with the DA, even attempted to sneak through these amendments is proof of their contempt for the youth of South Africa," said Thambo.
He claimed their agenda is to condemn young people into a permanent cycle of debt and exclusion, ensuring that financial institutions profit while students are criminalised for pursuing education.
Thambo mentioned that students are already trapped in a cruel system where universities withhold certificates and qualifications from graduates who owe fees, denying them the ability to find jobs and repay the very debts that imprison them.
"Instead of resolving this crisis, the ANC and DA sought to escalate it by handing over student debts to credit bureaus, to be sold for profit in the debt markets. This is how white monopoly capital is enriched, while the dreams of black youth are suffocated," said Thambo.
He claimed that the regulations were designed to guarantee that young people in Mzansi don't stand a chance to prosper in any way.
