THE ANC Youth League national leadership has written to President Jacob Zuma demanding the government withdraw all its accounts from Absa, while its eThekwini structure is lobbying for young people to do the same.
The league’s call follows revelations that the bank had illegally received a R2.25 billion bailout from the apartheid government.
ANCYL national spokesperson Mlondi Mkhize said yesterday that after the government’s cancellation of its business deals with Absa, it would pursue the bank to repay the money.
The Absa scandal was revealed in a leaked public protector preliminary report.
“If the government moves slowly in this regard, we will also target them (government) to put more pressure to move their accounts to Post Bank, which should be operating as a state-owned bank,” said Mkhize.
He said the Absa scandal was an example of how the apartheid government had collaborated with the South African Reserve Bank in looting state funds to benefit white capitalists.
“The independence of the Reserve Bank has played a huge role as a facilitator of criminality, as evidenced by this Absa matter. This also proves that the independence of the Reserve Bank should come to an end as they collude to collapse and milk this country of billions,” he said.
The ANCYL in eThekwini said yesterday it was already talking to young people to stop banking with Absa, and those who are already clients to cancel their accounts.
Regional secretary Thinta Cibane said the league in eThekwini was taking allegations against Absa “very seriously”.
“We don’t want our people to use the bank that steals from this country. We call upon young people considering banking with Absa in the immediate to reconsider, at least for the time being, until this matter has been brought to its logical conclusion,” said Cibane.
He said the government should speed up starting the state-owned bank for people to invest where they would benefit.
Cibane also lashed out at former public protector Thuli Madonsela for prioritising the release of the Nkandla report over this one.
“We wonder when advocate Madonsela prioritised her investigations, and whose interests was she serving, because it was definitely not those of the public,” he said.
As to the ANC succession debate, ANC eThekwini regional chairperson Thembo Ntuli said the league would comply with the ANC national working committee’s instruction to its structures to stop talking about the matter until it is officially opened for discussions and lobbying.
“We respect the decisions of the ANC when they are made, but what we have been saying through the media was something that was resolved by the (eThekwini) congress.
“We were told by branches of the ANCYL to go and support Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, and we still stand by that. We are not going to retract the decision. Nkosazana Zuma for president,” said Ntuli.