News24 reports that hundreds of Cosatu members marched to Absa’s head office in Johannesburg on Thursday calling for the bank to repay bailout money paid to Bankorp by the Reserve Bank during apartheid.
Between 1985 and 1993, the apartheid government provided Bankorp with a series of bailouts, through the Reserve Bank, to offset loans that threatened Bankorp's survival. Absa took over Bankorp in 1992. Separately, the Competition Commission in February referred a case of collusion to the Competition Tribunal for prosecution against 17 banks, including Absa. Cosatu's Gauteng provincial chairperson Vusi Monyela said they had strategically chosen to march to Absa because the bank had not only colluded, but also benefited from loans that belonged to South Africans. "We think that the country has been robbed of its resources during that time and Absa must take responsibility and pay it back. When the collusion case emerged, it added to the damage that Absa has already done," said Monyela.
- Read this report by Sisa Canca in full at News24
- See too, Cosatu demonstrators demand Absa pay back, at eNCA
Get other news reports at the SA Labour News home page