Talk to your landlord first
Most landlords would rather be paid a week late than look for a new tenant. Write before the rent is due, say how much you can pay now and the date your salary arrives, and offer to pay the rest on that day. A partial payment on time shows that you are not walking away from the debt.
Keep the agreement in writing, even as a WhatsApp message, and keep to the date. If the landlord charges interest or a fee on late rent, it has to be in your lease; ask what it will be.
What a landlord may not do
Unpaid rent is a debt the landlord can claim, and a lease can be cancelled for it. But the Constitution says no one may be evicted from their home without a court order, and a landlord who changes the locks, removes your belongings or cuts off water or electricity to push you out acts unlawfully. Courts have ordered landlords to restore a defaulting tenant's water and power.
If that happens, the Rental Housing Tribunal in your province hears disputes between tenants and landlords free of charge, and a legal aid office can advise you on an eviction notice.
Options that cost little or nothing
Some employers advance part of the month's salary and take it from the next pay, usually without interest; our guide on a salary advance explains how it works and what to ask. A stokvel may let members draw early. Family can help too, if you agree the amount and the date it comes back.
Look at the other payments due before payday. A store account, a phone contract or a school fee may be easier to move by a few days than the rent; ask before the debit order runs, because a failed debit order costs fees on both sides. Our guide on being short of money before month-end goes through those bills one by one.
If you borrow to pay the rent
A small loan from a registered lender closes the gap within a day or two, at a cost. On a first short-term loan in a calendar year interest may be at most 5% a month, plus a capped initiation fee and a monthly service fee with VAT: R3 000 over 30 days may cost at most R636.70. Borrow only the shortfall, and set the repayment date for the day your salary is in your account.
CreditBar (NCRCP23238) lends R500 to R5 000 over 7 to 61 days. Jabulani Money (NCRCP22362) lends R500 to R4 000. CrediWise (NCRCP22496), LendPlus (NCRCP17814) and Prime Loans (NCRCP20937) lend R500 to R4 000 over 5 to 35 days. Our page on small loans shows which of them take applicants in your situation.
A loan repaid in one payment comes out of next month's salary, which then also has to pay next month's rent. If that will not stretch, a payment arrangement with the landlord over two months is safer than a loan.
If the rent is short every month
Then the month-end is not the problem. A registered debt counsellor can look at all your debts together and, where you are over-indebted, propose lower payments over a longer time; the National Credit Regulator lists them on its site. Never pay anyone who promises a loan in return for a fee upfront: a registered lender never asks for that.