Honest  and  True  South Africa

...A CREW THAT DOES ANYTHING AND EVERYTHING TO ENSURE A CONTINUATION OF A BAD THING...

 

Writing this piece comes with a lot of difficulty and pain deep in the inside of me because of what is happening in the financial industry across the African Continent. Africans, especially Indigent Africans, come a long way with the pain of being abused and unfairly treated by the financial industry in this Continent. If you don’t have an idea of what I’m talking about then allow me to refresh your memory by taking you back down memory lane.

Let me bring this closer to home in giving you the following example and you be the judge: Black South Africans are charged more to bank than their White counterparts. Historically Black South Africans were not allowed to enjoy all banking benefits like their White counterparts including interest on savings. It was more difficult for Black South Africans to get credit from banks compared to their White counterparts. I can go on and on and on but I suspect that the few examples herein above must remind you unless if you choose and prefer not to remember. Many Black South Africans took to the streets of this Country, doing all in their powers and ability to fight the injustices of the past and following their fight, Black South Africans hoped for a better life for all as promised by their respective liberation leaders. Amongst the things Black South Africans hoped for was for the banking industry to be regulated to the point where all the banking clients could be treated fairly and equally.

 

Fast forward to today, 16 years after democracy in 1994, regardless of the fact that we form the majority of the banking clientele in this Country, Black South Africans are still the most disadvantaged and the most unfairly treated clients of the banking sector. The dream and hope that Black South Africans had of honest and true banking sector was just a wishful thinking. We hoped in a hopeless situation and that has cost us much more than we can ever imagine, let alone know. In 2011, there are still banks that are charging Black South Africans more than their White counterparts based on race. How this is still allowed 16 years into democracy truly blows my mind..! The banking sector still operates the same way if not worse than they operated during the apartheid years. To add cherry on top, regardless of Government’s efforts to regularise, minimize and control irregular and unfair service by banks to South Africans, banks continue to do things their own preferred way. Here’s what really drives me insane about the banking industry in this Country: In other Countries clients gets remunerated whilst in South Africa we get charged for banking. South African banks are the most expensive in bank charges in the world. We get charged for checking our bank balances, for saving, for investing, etc. in fact, there is no way you can get into a bank and get out without being charged.

 

The big question is this: What is Government doing about all this..? Absolutely nothing unless if I am not aware of anything done if any..! This is the very Government voted into power by the overwhelming people of this Country, the very people who continue to be exploited and abused left right centre. Here is a nail in the coffin: Try to borrow money from any bank including Government funded financial institutions, if you are borrowing R100, you will be expected to have that R100 in the bank beforehand. Would you really go borrow money if you had it in the first place..? This is preposterous to say the least but you know what, we are expected to ignore all this madness and behave as if all is well. The amount of quiet and or silent corruption that is allowed in the banking industry, let alone in this Country is beyond imagination. We all know that there are unjust policies implemented in the past meant to keep Black South Africans below poverty lines, and it is unjustified for these policies to still exist to date. What is stopping Government from getting rid of these policies..?

 

To the powers be; you let us down by agreeing (without consulting us) to a lot of things that are still disadvantaging us to this date. It is about time that you make up for your mess. The banking industry needs a serious attention now than ever, and the sooner you act on this the better for all of us South Africans. Enough is enough. Stop this sugar-coating and the notion of telling us what we want to hear as opposed to the truth. The clock in slowly but surely ticking..! Mr. President, the ruling party and the financial gurus of this Country, you owe it to yourselves and more to us to ensure that justice prevail in this regard. South Africans are enough of hearing all the promises. You have the political power and that is not benefitting us as much as we expected. When we took to the streets of this Country and fought apartheid tooth and nail, we did that not only for a privileged few to benefit. We did that, we put our bodies on the line, some of our us died so that we, all South Africans can be free in the true sense of the word. We did what we had to do for a good course. That good course seems to be fading fast like a wild fire..!

 

In conclusion, my suggestion is for those with the powers to head my call of being honest and true to themselves first before trying to be honest and true to anyone else. That way you will have the courage to be honest and true to us all South Africans. It is against this background that I extend the invitation for all of us to be Honest and True South Africans...