Left: SANCO KwaZulu-Natal secretary Sizwe Cele, Cosatu KZN secretary, Edwin Mkhize, SACP KwaZulu-Natal secretary Themba Mthembu, ANC KZN secretary Bheki Mtolo and ANC provincial spokesperson Mafika Mndebele. Picture: Supplied
The ANC and its alliance partners in KwaZulu-Natal will picket outside the Pietermaritzburg High Court on Friday when the Prudential Authority and Ithala Bank exchange legal blows inside.
In a joint media briefing on Wednesday, the alliance said it was against the Prudential Authority’s decision to apply for the liquidation of Ithala Bank before the court order.
“Over the past few days, we witnessed reports in various media houses about the liquidation of Ithala by forces opposed to meaningful transformation of the financial services sector. As the alliance in KZN, we cannot be silent and allow these anti-forces of social and meaningful economic transformation to plunge this province into a socio-economic crisis that will take decades to address.
“As the alliance, we have agreed to embark on a grassroots-based mass action against the unsound and unjustifiable actions of the Repayment Administrator. This will start with picketing this Friday, 24 January during the hearing at the Pietermaritzburg High Court,” read the statement.
The alliance further said that the mass action will continue against the Repayment Administrator whom it accused of thriving against rural and township economies. He is also against the overall socio-economic development of indigenous communities.
However, the alliance said it was against any forms of corruption within Ithala. With this said, we wish to reiterate our firm opposition against any form of fraud and corruption within Ithala. It added that its view is that any form of corruption and financial mismanagement must be attended to separately by relevant crime-fighting agencies without collapsing this financial institution
Furthermore, the alliance which includes the South African National Civic Organisation, the Congress of South African Trade Unions, and the South African Communist Party says the bank has always been a beacon of hope for the marginalised, particularly rural women and single mothers, by providing them access to finance and banking services.
Operations in the bank are currently in disarray after the Prudential Authority prevented withdrawals and barred bank managers from accessing funds to pay the staff salaries and other operational expenses last week.
The 60-year-old bank’s problem started in 2022 when the Prudential Authority refused to renew its exemption from the Banking Act. This resulted in the bank not being able to accept new clients. In August last year, the bank was ordered to stop accepting deposits from existing customers, allowing only withdrawals.
willem.phungula@inl.co.za