Editor’s Note
ROB ROSE: You can bank on failure
Calls are mounting for government to launch a state-owned bank so the poor can gain access to credit. It’s a bad idea in many ways
The propaganda war against SA’s banks ratcheted up to a predictably hysterical level this week, coinciding (by absolute chance, I’m sure) with the Gupta family’s clash against Pravin Gordhan in the high court in Pretoria. SA’s equivalent of America’s least fair-and-balanced TV channel, Fox News — the Gupta-owned TV channel ANN7 — was full of it this week, headlining one insert as "Gordhan’s plot to shut Oakbay" and a "plea to declare banks untouchable". Both were mischievous lies by pretty much any measure.To be fair to the Guptas, this isn’t simply a debate taking place in Saxonwold. The ANC’s own policy documents, which were thoughtfully crafted, say the party should investigate ways to dismantle monopolistic structures (such as the banks) and one of the solutions it floats is that of a "state-owned bank, possibly based on a transformed Postbank, [which] can serve to widen access to banking services". Expect this to be a key theme when the ANC members converge on Gallagher Estate ...
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