While American investors have been able to buy mortgage-backed securities since the late 1970s and asset-backed securities since the mid-1980s, investors in South Africa have not become involved in this growing market. Securitisation also spread to Europe, South America, Asia and Australia during the 1980s. The first securitisation in South Africa was completed in 1989, but since then only a few securitised products have been offered to the investment community. The aim of this article is to investigate the reasons for the lack of growth in securitisation in South Africa and to determine whether securitisation will grow to be a significant market in South Africa. The methodology used includes interviews held with investors, securitisation specialists and other structured finance specialists from the banking community. Experience from other countries is noted and included in this article