Minister in the Presidency for Planning, monitoring and Evaluation Jeff Radebe
Minister in the Presidency for Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation Jeff Radebe has insisted that, despite the appointment of three Ministers to engage the banks that cut ties with private Gupta-linked Oakbay Investments amid allegations of State capture, government was not interfering in matters concerning the private sector.
Speaking at a post-Cabinet media briefing in Pretoria on Thursday, he assured that no precedent was being set by government’s involvement as it was a normal process to set up a task team “from time to time” to look into major issues, particularly when investment was at risk.
Cabinet appointed an inter-Ministerial team, comprising Labour Minister Mildred Oliphant, Mineral Resources Minister Mosebenzi Zwane and Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan to interact with the banks to unveil the facts on the matter and find a solution.
“While Cabinet appreciates the terms and conditions of the banks, their acts may deter future potential investors who may want to do business in South Africa,” Radebe said at the briefing.
Earlier this week, Oakbay employees published an open letter to Absa, First National Bank, Standard Bank and Nedbank, pleading with them to reverse their decisions as the business would shut its doors should its accounts remain closed.
“We do not know if any of the allegations against the Gupta family or Oakbay’s management are true. We do not care,” the employees said in the statement, adding they had done nothing wrong and were now victims of a political game."
The continued closure of the accounts risked some 7 500 jobs by the end of May.
The Banking Association of South Africa last week weighed in on the matter, saying that South African banks were “obliged to ensure that their clients abided by the regulations of the current Financial Intelligence Centre Act, including impending amendments to this Act, as well as antimoney-laundering regulations.”
Meanwhile, Democratic Alliance Shadow Finance Minister David Maynier took the opportunity to call on the South African Reserve Bank to launch an investigation into whether certain banks complied with all the relevant provisions of the Act, particularly “their obligations to conduct enhanced due diligence of politically exposed persons.”
The banks’ decision to terminate Oakbay’s bank accounts attracted outcry from the African National Congress Women’s League, with newswire African News Agency previously quoting the league as saying it was concerned about the effect the decision to close the company’s banks accounts would have on employees and their dependants, while newswire News24 quoted President Jacob Zuma's political adviser Vuso Shabalala as saying the decision by the country's banks to close the Gupta family's accounts was a “political stunt”.