Zuma suggests SA banks may have colluded in closing Gupta accounts
Government cannot sit by and watch banks close people’s accounts “willy nilly”, president Jacob Zuma said in Parliament on Wednesday.
He was responding to questions from MPs when he was asked to elaborate on an inter-ministerial commission which looked into the closure of the bank accounts of Oakbay Investments – a company owned by the Gupta family.
A defiant Zuma said the fact that South Africa’s four big banks acted “simultaneously” could suggest there had been collusion.
“If a number of banks act in the same way, simultaneously – not one bank, not two banks, including some financial institutions – to any ordinary person, that is not an ordinary act.
It suggests that there is something, the banks can’t act together on the same manner, in the same way. It gives a feeling that there is something going on here,” Zuma said.
“It does not look innocent,” the president said. He said that the simultaneous actions from banks ‘suggested something untoward’.
He said that the government’s decision to intervene was based on protecting future investment.
“We wanted constructively, to interact with the banks to find out wat is this, what are they doing, where has this come from. There is no government that can just sit, because any other company who would want to come to South Africa would say, sorry, I am not going there (South Africa) because if the banks are angry with me, they will collude.”
In April this year Jeff Radebe, Minister in the Presidency Responsible for Planning and Monitoring, said in a Cabinet statement that three ministers – Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan, Mineral Resources Minister Mosebenzi Zwane and Labour Minister Mildred Oliphant – would meet with Oakbay, following the termination of its relationship with South Africa’s four big banks.
Radebe’s announcement followed after FNB, Absa, Standard Bank and Nedbank had notified Oakbay earlier this year they would no longer provide banking services to Oakbay or its subsidiaries, while listing sponsor Sasfin Capital and auditing firm KPMG also cut ties with the company.
In September, Zwane also sparked controversy when he claimed that Cabinet would launch a judicial commission of inquiry into the banks amid the closing of the Gupta’s bank accounts.
But the Presidency quickly denied Zwane’s claim and said it was not reflective of Cabinet’s position.
On November 2, former public protector Thuli Madonsela said in her state capture report that Cabinet’s attempt to intervene in the matter of local banks closing Gupta-owned company accounts may indicate a conflict of interest for Zuma, who has strong ties with the family.
The president, however, was unapologetic about Cabinet’s intervention, saying it’s government’s responsibility to make sure institutions, including banks, abide by the law.
With News24
Read: Gordhan to Guptas: take SA banks to court if you have nothing to hide
Loading ...