Consumers warned not to overspend amid coronavirus panic
Debt Rescue CEO Neil Roets has warned consumers not to overspend on panic-buying items amid the outbreak of coronavirus in South Africa.
President Cyril Ramaphosa announced a state of national disaster amid the growth in Covid-19 cases over the past two weeks.
READ: Ramaphosa warns in his weekly letter: 'Number of coronavirus infections is expected to rise.'
South Africa had 61 confirmed cases of coronavirus by Monday morning.
The declaration of a state of national disaster has seen long queues form as stores as South Africans stock up on essential goods.
But Roets warns compulsive spending will have a detrimental impact on already debt-stressed consumers.
“People are in a panic and there’s a lot of things that they want to buy in these times, like hygienic stuff and hand sanitisers and the likes, which would not necessarily fall within their budget.
“So the only way of paying for these items would be by taking out credit and using credit to buy all these things.
“We don’t know whether it’s going to be necessary at the end of the day and how long it’s going to last but the reality is that it’s going to have a negative financial impact on consumers.”