Ithala chief executive, Pearl Bhengu. Picture:Tumi Pakkies/African News Agency (ANA)
Durban — Ithala Bank chief executive officer Pearl Bhengu has come out guns blazing demanding to know why her bank has been excluded from the much-anticipated state-owned bank bill while Postbank has been mentioned in the bill.
Bhengu was speaking at a state bank workshop held in Durban recently.
Bhengu demanded that Ithala Bank be recognised as a KwaZulu-Natal-based state-owned bank, and she believed that Postbank did not qualify for this role because of its relationship with the financially ruined Post Office.
Bhengu told delegates at the KwaZulu-Natal ANC’s workshop on the establishment of a state-owned bank that when the state bank bill was first introduced in Parliament in 2011 there was no mention of Ithala.
“So I am very sceptical about this bill (and) I would like it to be looked at line by line because if our government is serious about a state bank, they shouldn’t be elevating the Post Office alone,” said Bhengu.
She said Ithala was already complying with almost all of the requirements of a state bank.
According to the South African Postbank Limited Amendment Bill, the Postbank, which is a subsidiary of the Post Office, “shall be distinguished from the normal banks as the Postbank shall be a state-owned commercial bank conducting the business of a bank as defined in the Banks Act”.
“We know, we have made a comparison between the Post Office and Ithala and we have seen (that) Ithala is stronger than the Post Office,” said Bhengu.
Bhengu described the bill as gatekeeping to prevent provinces from having their own state banks.
She said the exclusion of Ithala from the bill was once raised in Parliament.
“We need, as KZN, to get that clip (voice recording) at the NCOP (National Council of Provinces) because when somebody asked ‘what about Ithala’, the person who was presenting the bill said ‘we cannot talk about Ithala, Ithala was a bank of the old regime’, he said ‘it is a Bantustan bank, we cannot talk about Ithala,” said Bhengu.
Bhengu did not mince her words in questioning why the Post Office was prioritised over Ithala. She said the bill should only talk about a state bank instead of mentioning Postbank as the preferred institution.
“When we go back to wherever we are going we should carefully look at the inclusion of the Post Office. Why are we elevating the Post Office which are all shut down?
“They (Post Office facilities) don’t pay because they do not have money, whereas Ithala pays,” said Bhengu.
IOL reported early this year that the Post Office had shut down 92 of its branches, with 50 of them being closed by unpaid landlords.
“We really must look and compare, and I think there is a lot of work that we as IDFC (Ithala Development Finance Corporation) must really look at line by line and do our own submissions because I am worried,” said Bhengu.
ANC deputy chairperson Nomagugu Simelane backed Bhengu and said the party had asked itself why regional state banks were not mentioned in the bill. “Why are we not allowed to have regional banks because when we go all over the world, it is how developing countries operate.
“Our comment as a province says don’t talk about just Postbank, talk about Postbank and regional banks and everyone will be covered and we should put that in writing,” said Simelane.
Ntokozo Mnyandu, of the University of KwaZulu-Natal Law School, raised a concern about Postbank being used as the name of the state bank. He said although using the Postbank as the name of the new bank would be good because it was already popular, the tainted name of the Post Office might have already badly affected Postbank’s reputation.
“I am worried that the reputation of the Post Office would follow the Postbank,” he said.
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