Wonga are in South Africa. Let's keep them out of Botswana.

You may have seen the adverts for Wonga.com on DSTV. This controversial British payday loan company, infamous in the UK for charging annual percentage rates of over 4,000% is now operating in South Africa.

They've already inspired 362 entries on HelloPeter.com in a year. Not bad going.

Let's hope they don't get their claws into Botswana as well.

On their web site they offer an online calculator showing how much you'd pay to borrow a particular amount over a period of your choice.

Take a look at this example. Look closely at the numbers.

The smallest possible loan (R100), borrowed over the shortest possible period (2 days), would incur a percentage "interest & fees" charge of 74%.