Five years ago this week African Bank was placed under curatorship. The Reserve Bank and the other big lenders stumped up the money to prevent the total collapse of the bank. It was big news. And its collapse could have resulted in systemic risk for SA's banking industry.

The bank was the face of the unsecured lending boom that engulfed SA in the wake of the global financial crisis of 2008 and the recession that followed it. These loans were in high demand as the big four banks in SA closed the taps on mortgage loans and generally took a more conservative approach to lending...

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