Debt collectors won’t come knocking on your door during SA’s Covid-19 lockdown

She also laid out much more precisely than before just what sectors of the financial industry should continue to work, and the one that shouldn't.

When the lockdown was first decreed, essential financial services were defines as those "necessary to maintain the functioning of the banking and payments environment, including the JSE and similar exchanges, as well as insurance services."

In an initial update to those rules, "medical scheme administration" was added to the list.

On Thursday the list grew both longer and more explicit, to now include mutual banks, "the savings and investment environment", and pension fund administration.

There is one rider to the list: it "may not be construed to include debt collection services".

Debt collection is also specifically mentioned elsewhere in the new regulations. Finance minister Tito Mboweni now has the power to designate more services necessary to keep the rest of the essential financial machinery working, as he sees fit, without going via Dlamini-Zuma's department.

There's just one limitation: he may not include debt collection in any such list he creates.

Other countries have partially or entirely suspended debt collection during the Covid-19 crisis, including Switzerland and Greece. But in the United States debt collectors are pushing back, saying their services are more important than ever for the likes of medical service providers.

Update: Some debt-collection agencies have confirmed that though their call centres are closed, they have staff working from home, is is allowed in any industry. That means people who owe money may not get knocks on the door – but are likely to still receive phone calls demanding money.