SowetanLive reports that a year-and-a-half after applying for a banking licence, the SA Democratic Teachers’ Union (Sadtu) has successfully launched a co-operative financial institution with 217 members and R141,000 in deposits at the time of registration.
The Sadtu Savings and Credit Co-operative Ltd was registered with the Reserve Bank’s Prudential Authority on 27 May. This was announced after the union’s national executive committee meeting earlier this month. The co-operative bank will have as its members only Sadtu members, who number 250,000, and the union's employees. Unlike other financial institutions such as private banks and micro-lenders, the bank will not issue shares to outside shareholders. Instead, earnings will be returned to members in the form of "lower" interest loans and "high" interest on the members’ deposits. Sadtu members will be able to join the co-operative by buying a membership share of R200 and paying a once-off fee of R100.
- Read the full original of Ernest Mabuza’s report on this story at TimesLIVE
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