Banking, land and race wars...

Differing views around VBS saga amid accusations of double standards.

The VBS Bank curatorship saga is quickly taking on a racial life of its own, with accusations of intolerance to black excellence flying thick and fast. VBS chairperson Tshifhiwa Matodzi, in a letter to the South African Reserve Bank’s (Sarb) Kuben Naidoo, blamed the Sarb for applying different standards to the black-owned VBS compared to when it was white owned.

Matodzi noted the bank was being targeted because of its loan to former president Jacob Zuma for his Nkandla homestead, and that he had tried to manage the problems with National Treasury but to no avail.

“In the end, we were faced with a well-organised and powerful system which does not tolerate growing black banks and black excellence,” Matodzi said.

The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) also questioned the apparent racial overtones of the VBS curatorship.

“Why is the Reserve Bank quick in saving a white-owned bank and quick in placing a black-owned bank under curatorship,” EFF spokesperson Mbuyiseni Ndlozi queried in a statement yesterday, referring to the Capitec Bank and Viceroy sagas.

Leon Louw, Free Market Foundation executive director, said it was concerning there appeared to be increasing tension.

“Certainly, it’s an impression one gets through media commentary, listening to callers to radio stations and looking at tweets ... there seems to be a rising racial tension,” he said.

“The race card is played over issues such as Capitec, Steinhof, Absa and VBS. Things are often skewed with racial overtones whereas if one looks at the facts, they are quite different.”

Louw noted the Public Investment Corporation – responsible for managing the government employees’ pension fund – had also invested in VBS, the second time it had become involved in a dodgy scheme.

“Not only should heads roll there, it should be sued,” Louw said.

He noted as a mutual bank, it was the people who deposited money into the bank who owned it and the Reserve Bank had a duty to protect them.

The view from the Institute of Race Relations (IRR) was somewhat different.

“South African society is resilient and, as our research shows, moderate, tolerant and collaborative in sentiment,” said IRR’s media head Michael Morris.

“The people as a whole are getting along fine because they share similar views about what’s important.” –