Quest for social justice drives banks probe

JUST what drives Tembinkosi Bonakele, under whose tutelage the Competition Commission is taking on mega banks for currency exchange fixing? Bonakele, commissioner of the commission, cites an unflinching commitment to social justice as his main driver. “It inspires my whole life and not necessarily any individual investigation that the commission does,” he told Sowetan in an interview. “It’s my philosophy. This is what I bring to the position that I hold, to communities where I live and the organisations that I serve.” But that is not to say he personally has a bone to pick with the banks the commission wants fined for colluding in currency trading prices. “I can’t necessarily say that I’m on a crusade against anybody. But social justice imbues my consciousness.”

The commission announced on February 15 that it had referred a collusion case against almost 20 banks to the Competition Tribunal for prosecution.

Producing prima facie evidence that the banks had been fixing the price at which the rand was traded to the US dollar, the commission wants the banks fined 10% of their annual turnover.

Most of the implicated banks are multinationals. They include Bank of America Merrill Lynch International Limited, BNP Paribas, JP Morgan Chase & Co, JP Morgan Chase Bank N.A, Standard New York Securities and HSBC Bank.

Their South African counterparts with a case to answer are Investec, Absa and Standard Bank.

One bank, Citibank, reached a settlement agreement with the Competition Commission. It agreed to a fine of R69-million.

Bonakele said other banks had the option to settle before prosecution.

“I hope they do [settle]. We do like early settlements. But that being said, we are ready to run the case.”

The commission started its investigation in 2015, just a year after Bonakele was appointed its commissioner.

At that time, he had already served the commission for about 10 years.

An admitted attorney, Bonakele holds a BJuris and an LLB from the University of Fort Hare and an MBA from the University of Pretoria’s Gordon Institute of Business Science. He previously practised with Cheadle Thompson and Hayso, a leading law firm in Johannesburg. His story of life begins in the Eastern Cape.

“I was born in a small village in King Williams Town and grew up in Mthatha in part, which is where my mom is from.

“But for the most part I grew up in East London. I went to high school from 1990 to 1994 in East London.

“It was a very interesting time, during the transition. I always say that I’m the child of transition because that’s when I really started knowing what’s going on.

“I went to study law at Fort Hare. I was very involved in the student movement.

“I was president of the Student Representative Council at Fort Hare at some point and a member and leader of the South African Students Congress.

“I think my background is where my commitment to social justice comes from.”

For what he described as one of the commission’s biggest and complex investigations, Bonakele thanked his team for its hard work.

“It was not an easy area. Currency trading itself is very complex and even understanding the terms is complicated.

“We delved into this and I’m very proud of what we’ve been able to achieve.”

I’m not against “anyone... social justice imbues my consciousness