POLITICAL INTERFERENCE
Gordhan and banks want lines drawn
Declaratory order will bring the certainty needed in the market and get the Guptas — and their supporters — off Gordhan’s back, writes Hilary Joffe
Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan’s court application on the banks and the Guptas may centre on a relatively minor legal issue. But it has major implications for SA’s banking sector. And while much of the focus has been on the juicy details of what the Gupta-linked companies did and on the allegations back and forth, it’s worth stepping back to look at why the case matters — and why the banks have asked the courts for even more than the minister has. When Gordhan asked the high court in October to declare that he could not intervene in the relationship between SA’s big four banks and 14 Gupta-linked companies, the main reason he gave was that the Guptas’ allegations that the banks had closed their accounts for no good reason was harming the reputation of the banking sector. Taking it to court broke the confidentiality the banks are required to keep when it comes to their clients, so it was one way of flushing out the truth of just why all four banks independently opted to close those ...
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