Historians want to scour Reserve Bank records for details of apartheid-era financial crime
The refusal by the South African Reserve Bank to provide documents requested by an archive organisation was unfortunate and was reminiscent of what happened during the time of apartheid. This is the submission made by the South African History Archive (SAHA) in the High Court in Johannesburg as it seeks to compel the Bank to release records of suspected apartheid-era financial crimes. SAHA brought an application in terms of the Promotion of Access to Information Act (PAIA) in 2015. It requested access to records of any evidence obtained by the bank as part of its investigations into any contravention of the law in respect of fraud‚ gold smuggling or smuggling of other precious metals conducted into the affairs of eight individuals. These include Vito Palazzolo‚ a former Mafia boss who is serving time in an Italian prison. In the 1980s‚ he was linked to the "Bank of Bisho" in the former Ciskei‚ which was used to launder money for South African-Israeli weapons programmes. Although the...
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.
Subscribe now to unlock this article.
Support BusinessLIVE’s award-winning journalism for R129 per month (digital access only).
There’s never been a more important time to support independent journalism in SA. Our subscription packages now offer an ad-free experience for readers.
Cancel anytime.
Questions? Email helpdesk@businesslive.co.za or call 0860 52 52 00. Got a subscription voucher? Redeem it now.