In South Africa, most consumers are poorly educated, and ignorant, and furniture retailers have been milking them in a similar way for decades. The National Credit Act, introduced in 2007, was supposed to tighten up on reckless and exploitative lending, but they figured out all the loopholes. The Marikana massacre in 2012, which was the worst example of post-apartheid unrest can be traced to ignorant mineworkers having their wages garnished by creditors.<p>In the last few months, African Bank, which owned a furniture company, imploded.<p>JD Group, the dominant furniture retailer, that was built on exploitative credit, is spinning off its financial assets.<p>Still, there is more pain ahead. How ironic that the U.S. is allowing its poor to be exploited the same way.