JOHANNESBURG – TransformRSA (TRSA) president Adil Nchabeleng on Sunday restated his assertion that a large number of black-owned businesses in South Africa were being sidelined from the government’s multibillion-rand stimulus funding.
In an interview with seasoned political journalist Sifiso Mahlangu on Galaxy Universal Network’s Politiki, Nchabeleng reiterated that the organisation would mobilise all affected business people and the global community to get the domestic banks to play ball.
“We are gathering massive numbers … complaints, numbers of people who are supporting the campaign … the amount of people who are going to come up with honest stories. Whether (the way the banks treated them) was fair or not would be tested at the Equality Court. We are going to have a legal suit to be launched locally and internationally like what the Afriforums have done to the black government. We are going to complain about the top five banks,” said Nchabeleng.
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Earlier this year, the government announced a R500 billion stimulus package to help manage the damaging fallout from the Covid-19 pandemic. The banking sector was to administer R200bn of these funds.
“The organisation sees the need for the banks to be taken to the Equality Courts of South Africa. We are appalled that the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) which gave SA banks liquidity of more than R200bn by reducing their balance sheet requirements, provided a further R200bn in guarantees which was committed by the government so that banks could provide loan facilities to businesses that are affected by the Covid-19 pandemic,” Nchabeleng said.
After the story of TRSA’s move was broken by Independent Media on Friday South Africans took to social media, mainly Twitter, to share how they were discriminated against by the domestic banking sector.
@Nedbank they refuse to fund me I have been banking with the commercially for the past 6 years but they refuse to loan me through the SME Loan scheme. @Nedbank have refused to offer me any financial assistance to grow my business beside my excellent credit score
— Chimane_Moepi (@ChimaneMoepi) August 9, 2020
Hi there. We would love to take a look at the credit applications you may have submitted so we can discuss further. Kindly private message us more details.
— Nedbank (@Nedbank) August 9, 2020
Banks are private businesses which happen to be owned and controlled by a particular demographic. If there are businesses to be assisted, it's only expected that the banks only take care of those who look like them
They first invested it into other insure investments, the delay is that what they invested to make money on their behalf is not matured to be withdrawn and give back to public and they would have made 20billion profit out of that 200billion, it's a money scheme for Cyril friends
— Mechack (@Meshack_BOP) August 7, 2020
A bank is a business on a professional level, the ultimate motive is to make profit.
— Maya Laud (@LaudAntonn) August 8, 2020
This is a great idea but trust me Ithala Bank and Post Bank have been trying to get commercial banking licenses from @SAReserveBank for almost 10 years now without success. That time they are Government Owned banks. The Central Bank is the biggest hurdle in this equation
Companies implicated in corruption by their own admission such as Steinhoff, Tongaat Hulett, Stefanutti ABB, EOH, among others, are enjoying funding and loan facilities from banks and their accounts remain open. This was discrimination against black companies #RacistBanksMustFall https://t.co/6aAQoktz9r
— Advovolicious (@Advovolicious) August 7, 2020
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