The newly appointed KwaZulu-Natal ANC leadership has thrown its weight behind Ithala Bank, vowing to oppose its imminent closure.
The bank is in a legal battle with the South African Reserve Bank’s Prudential Authority which has filed papers in the Pietermaritzburg High Court for its provisional liquidation.
Although the Prudential Authority cited non-compliance as the reason for the application, the matter has been turned into a political hot potato by politicians and other stakeholders who are opposed to the closure of the bank.
ANC veteran Mike Mabuyakhulu, who is the coordinator of the reconfigured provincial leadership, said the new leadership of the ANC in the province were in full support of the continued existence of the historical bank. He said the party was totally against the Prudential Authority’s move to liquidate Ithala.
“Our position as the ANC is clear, we are opposed to the closure. We are saying is that the government and Ithala's management must fix what is wrong but we say no to the closure of the bank.
He further stated the party was concerned about more than 250,000 Ithala Bank customers who have been left in the lurch because of the Prudential Authority’s decision. Mabuyakhulu also dismissed the view that there was a political party that was pushing Ithala to the edge of a cliff, saying he did not believe that there was such a thing.
Addressing an imbizo (gathering) last month, Zulu King Misuzulu kaZwelithini announced that there he believed that there was a certain political party that is fueling the closure of the bank.
During the opening of the provincial legislature on Thursday, the king vowed to save Ithala at all costs, referring to himself as a custodian of the bank.
Others opposed to the liquidation of the provincial bank have said that they suspect a third hand behind the decision, arguing that the closure will leave poor black, rural communities with no option but to go ‘to unfriendly commercial banks, which are mostly owned by white businesses’.