Parties to protest against Ithala Bank's closure!

THE KZN Alliance Secretariat have agreed to start a grassroots mass action against the liquidation of Ithala Bank.

This decision comes after the Reserve Bank's Prudential Authority filed papers in the Pietermaritzburg High Court in KZN for the provisional liquidation of the bank because it failed to register as a deposit bank.

Speaking to the media at Dr Pixley ka Isaka Seme House in eThekwini on Wednesday, 22 January, the Secretariat, which includes the African National Congress (ANC), South African Communist Party (SACP), Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu), and the South African National Civic Organisation (Sanco), said they oppose the forces trying to take over the bank.

ANC provincial secretary Bheki Mtolo said the KZN alliance can't stay silent and let these "anti-forces" of social and meaningful economic transformation push their province into a socio-economic crisis that would take decades to fix.

He said that Ithala has always been a hope for the marginalised, providing them with the right to access financial and banking services, especially rural women and single mums.

"This is the reason KZN government has always positioned Ithala as a financial development institution to promote development and provide adequate access to finance, primarily for SMMEs and vulnerable members of our society," he said.

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Mtolo said the Alliance Secretariat has agreed to make KZN a leading and powerful player in economic growth and development in Mzansi. All parties recognised the importance of strengthening Ithala to spark an entrepreneurial revolution.

"We want people in all parts of this province to have access to economic opportunities. However, economic opportunities can only be created if entrepreneurs have access to seed capital and financial services," he said.

He said Ithala has been a key driver in developing SMMEs in KZN, and the progress made over decades shouldn't be reversed.

"As the alliance, we've agreed to start grassroots mass action against the unsound and unjustified actions of the Repayment Administrator, starting with a protest this Friday, 24 January, during the hearing at the Pietermaritzburg High Court," added Mtolo.