It is fair to say that government-owned banks — the state institutions that are legally permitted to accept deposits — are not meeting even basic standards of prudence.

Ithala, the KwaZulu-Natal development finance institution that was permitted to operate as a bank, is in a messy liquidation process. The Postbank has been getting disclaimed audit opinions and has two major fraud investigations under way into thefts and tender irregularities. The third is Land Bank, which is now the only one trending in the right direction, after getting back on its feet after it defaulted to bond holders four years ago...

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