The Premier has spoken for the first time against corrupt banks in South Africa.
Mpumalanga Premier David Mabuza was delivering the State of the Province Address at the provincial legilsature in Mbombela on late Friday morning (24 Feb).
He said his government condemned ‘strongly’ the 17 banks found to be colluding in price-fixing by the Competition Commission a week ago.
The South African Reserve Bank (SARB) has since stated that they viewed the allegations of banks as very serious and the Competition Commission after its finding referred the corruption case of the 17 local and international banks to be prosecuted.
The banks are accused of colluding to fix the price of the rand since atleast 2007.
Mabuza said they condemned this ‘collusive behaviour’ by the banks on “their currency trading platforms”.
“This does not bode well for our economy and its confidence in a dynamic globally competitive economy,” Mabuza said during the address.
Mabuza said during this difficult time they were calling on the private sector to invest in the economy and join hands with government in overcoming economic challenges.
“Within this overall pattern of declining growth, limited domestic investment in the economy by the private sector has negatively impacted on the labour market and constrained our ability to create jobs,” he said.
(edited by MLM)
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