In short: South African consumers are entitled to a free credit report at least once a year from each registered credit bureau under the National Credit Act. Pull the reports yourself from the bureau (or an official partner portal they name) — do not pay a random “credit check” WhatsApp seller. Checking your own file is normally a soft / consumer enquiry, not the same as a lender hard pull. Not financial advice.
Sources: National Credit Act consumer right to access credit bureau information; TransUnion — annual free credit report.
What you are entitled to
Registered credit bureaus must let you see your credit information. In practice that means one free statutory report per year from each major bureau you deal with (commonly named: TransUnion, Experian, and others still active in the market). Lenders do not all report to the same bureau, so one report is not the whole picture.
A practical way to get started
- Open TransUnion’s free annual credit report page and follow their registration / identity steps
- Repeat with other bureaus’ official consumer portals (Experian and any others you use) for your once-a-year free pulls
- Download or save the PDF / screen and note the date
- Dispute wrong accounts in writing with the bureau that shows them
Score vs report
- A report lists accounts, judgments, enquiries and payment history
- A score is a number each bureau models differently (scales are not interchangeable)
- Free score apps and bank widgets can help day to day, but the statutory free report is the legal baseline
Watch for paid traps
- “Pay R99 / send airtime for your score” cold WhatsApps
- Sites that bury the free annual option behind a subscription
- Anyone asking for your banking PIN to “clear” your record
Related
Loans if your credit record is damaged · Micro loans: what to check
Last checked: September 2026 against the NCA free-report right and TransUnion’s annual free report product page. Confirm each bureau’s live free process on their site. Not financial advice.