Parliament - President Jacob Zuma on Wednesday’s offered robust defense of government’s approach to four leading banks over their decision to sever ties with Oakbay Investments, saying the decision to shut the accounts of the Gupta-owned company had raised “suspicion”.
“If a number of banks act in the same way, including some financial institutions… it suggests that there was something happening that was untoward. We wanted to deal with that matter and get to the bottom of it.”
Zuma said government had feared that foreign investors would see the banks as acting in collusion and as a result become reluctant to invest in South Africa.
“The action looks suspicious and as government responsible to govern this country we certainly have to investigate it what is this and we started very politely by sending a team” to talk to the banks, he added.
Since the banks failed to respond as one would reasonably expect and explain the step, Zuma said, government still did not know what had motivated Absa, First National Bank, Nedbank and Standard Bank earlier this year to end their relationship with the company.
He noted that it was “not about the company” but about the principle.
“We have laws in this country. It does not look innocent and that is a problem we have. The action looks suspicious and we will certainly have to deal with it. We are dealing with the action of the bank and we will continue to do it.”
Zuma was then asked by Democratic Alliance finance spokesman David Maynier what form a presidential reprimand handed to Mineral Resources Mosebenzi Zwane for falsely claiming that Cabinet had agreed to ask Zuma to institute a commission of inquiry into the matter, had taken and why he had not been fired.
Maynier suggested the minister should be “sprayed with doom”.
Zuma said reprimands by their nature depended on the act, the context, and the country, in which it happened. In some cases people were fired, in others they were rebuked.
“We did the right thing. I reprimanded the minister, he apologised. What more do you want?”
African News Agency