Research indicates households currently have the least amount of cash available since 2010, according to Russell Lamberti of ETM Analytics.

Lamberti developed credit bureau TransUnion's Consumer Credit Index and says rising inflation is basically gobbling up households' disposable income.
    
Accordingly, it is becoming increasingly difficult for South Africans to pay their debt and keep their credit worthiness.

TransUnion's Consumer Credit Index for the first quarter of 2016 was 6 points lower than the last quarter of 2015.

According to Geoff Miller of TransUnion, more and more people are not repaying their debt.

"How serious the situation will become would depend on how long the current challenging macro economic factors last," he explained.

At the same time, TransUnion's research shows that retailers are becoming more and more cautious about providing credit.

"The number of new accounts being approved is substantially less - not due to credit providers being fussy about approval, but because consumers who are simply no longer credit worthy," explains Miller.