If banks were to close accounts of everybody that could cause them reputational damage, then surely they should go on and close the bank accounts of President Cyril Ramaphosa.
This is the view of Chairman of Sekunjalo Investments, and Executive Chairman of Independent Media, Dr Iqbal Survé.
Survé made the comments during a radio interview on SAfm with Oliver Dickson on Monday in reaction to Sekunjalo’s precedent setting court victory against Nedbank last week.
The Sekunjalo Group of Companies (Sekunjalo) won an interim order in the Equality Court preventing Nedbank from closing its bank accounts last Friday.
Western Cape High Court Judge Mokgoatji Dolamo ruled that pending the final determination of Sekunjalo’s main Equality Court application any of its accounts that had already been closed at the time of the hearing of the application should be reopened with immediate effect.
Dolamo also ordered that Nedbank retain the terms and conditions on which these accounts were operating prior to the date of their closure pending the final outcome of the main Equality Court application.
Nedbank was also ordered to pay costs.
“Following the controversy that surrounds president Cyril Ramaphosa, and the embarrassment he caused, banks could close his accounts,” Survé said.
Survé added that the court found that there was prima facie evidence that the banks had operated in a discriminatory fashion against Sekunjalo and himself.
“We are the first group to challenge these banks. For the first time, black people in this country will have a chance to fight back against these banks who abuse their power in this country. Companies that have committed fraud, such as Steinhoff, Tongaat Hulett, Glencore and other companies that have been implicated in state capture did not have their accounts closed by the banks. They were treated differently,” said Survé.