South Africans are drowning in debt with over 52,000 civil judgments made for debt worth over R362-million in the first quarter of 2016. The 2016 first quarterly report released by Statistics SA on Thursday showed a decrease of 13.4% in the total number of civil summonses issued for debt in the first quarter of 2016 compared with the first quarter of 2015.The total value of civil judgments recorded for debt also fell‚ by 5.8%‚ in the first quarter of 2016 compared with the same period for 2015.While the decrease may indicate some relief for the indebted general public when compared to last year‚ the values of the debt on which judgments were made remained high.Money lent to people‚ which they failed to repay‚ topped the list at R95-million.This was followed by debt on credit cards‚ bills and other acknowledgments of debt‚ which stood at R37.7-million.On just rent alone‚ civil judgment stood at R20-million‚ while debt on goods sold was at R12.3-million.With South Africa's unemployment on the rise and the economy struggling with sluggish growth‚ this picture could get worse.Last week‚ Statistics SA reported a sharp increase in unemployment in the first three months of this year to 26.7% from 24.5% in the fourth quarter of last year.This reflected that 5.7-million people who are actively looking for jobs are unable to find any‚ as opposed to 5.2-million people in the fourth quarter of last year.The economy is shedding jobs as companies struggle to operate in the low-growth environment‚ while more people are entering the labour market to look for jobs.This‚ along with the fact that more people became of working age and started looking for jobs‚ contributed to a higher unemployment rate. - TMG Digital..