By Hajira Khota
28:09:2021

The law clinic at Stellenbosch University is pursuing an unprecedented class-action lawsuit against a dozen websites that it claims conned thousands of South Africans into signing up for unnecessary legal services.

According to the law clinic, thousands of South Africans fell prey to a scam performed by the sites between 2015 and 2019, which deceived people into buying unwanted legal services and then utilised a linked debt collection agency to badger them into paying up.

After receiving hundreds of complaints from users who claimed they had been duped by sites claiming to offer online loans, the clinic filed suit in September 2019.

The Law clinic’s senior attorney and lecturer, Stephan van der Merwe, spoke to Radio Islam International and said that the case would be groundbreaking. He pointed out that there have only been two completed class lawsuits in the country to date, with none including consumer protection, which protects the public from
unfair company practices.

According to the legal clinic, the loans were presented as a complimentary bonus and were the only reason customers visited the sites. When individuals managed to reverse the debit orders, they were met with a bombardment of threats and harassment; including warnings of blacklisting or even legal action, according to the law clinic’s senior attorney and lecturer Stephan van der Merwe.

Consumers say financial problems were exacerbated after the application was filed, the Lifestyle Legal group is thought to have discontinued operations and shut down all of its loan websites.

According to Van der Merwe, the SU Law Clinic will now issue a summons on behalf of the class, and consumers will be advised of the process for registering their claims shortly.

After being banned from the National Payment System following a Carte Blanche expose, the companies behind the sites were eventually deactivated; and have not traded since April 2020.

[LISTEN] to the podcast here