About The Founder

How it All Began...The Red Nissan Van

I was about eight years old, growing up in in the North West province, when I experienced something that would stay with me for the rest of my life.

I remember my father having a red Nissan van. To me, it wasn't my father's red van..it was simply our family car.

I did not fully understand what it meant to owe money, what a credit agreement was, or what happened when someone could no longer afford their repayments.

But one day, coming back from school, I saw my father hand the keys to a strange man - who would start the engine and drive away with our car.

Our family's red Nissan van was repossessed. I remember seeing what was happening, but as a child, I could not understand why someone could simply come and take away something that belonged to our family.

That experience left a mark on me.


Years later, when I became a Debt Counsellor, I began to understand the financial realities behind what had happened to my father. I realised that behind every account, every instalment and every credit agreement is a real person and a real family.


People don't wake up one morning and decide that they want to be over-indebted.


Sometimes life happens. A business fails. A salary is reduced. A relationship ends. Someone becomes ill. Expenses increase while income stays the same. Before long, a person can find themselves trapped in a cycle of debt with no clear way out.


My childhood experience with that red Nissan gave me a personal understanding of just how devastating financial distress can be. It also gave me a purpose.


I became a Debt Counsellor because I wanted to help people avoid experiencing the same fear, helplessness and loss that I saw in my own family.


Today, every person who comes to me for help is more than just a client or a case number. I understand that there is a story behind the debt.


And perhaps that is why the memory of a red Nissan has stayed with me for so many years.


What began as one of my childhood memories ultimately became part of the reason I chose a career dedicated to helping South Africans regain control of their financial lives.


Katlego Lenoke,
BCom. Accounting, University of Cape Town
LLB, University of South Africa
Debt Couselling, University of Pretoria