WITH the most historic BRICS 2023 Summit under way one cannot help noticing the hypocrisy shown by the banks, to have the group chief executive of Standard Bank, Sim Tshabalala, get a platform, while the bank is also in a bid to shut down Independent Media.
BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) account for nearly 40% of the world’s total population, about 25% of global gross domestic product (GDP), and about 20% of global trade, and talks of a common currency that could replace the US dollar in trade among them are on the cards.
The financial institution is owned by the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, currently the largest shareholder, with 20% of shares outstanding. With 15% and 5.1% of the shares outstanding respectively, Public Investment Corporation (PIC) and Coronation Fund Managers are the second- and third-largest shareholders.
For Tshabalala to lead these discussions, addressing world leaders on matters such as the rule of law, and allowing fair settlement of commercial disputes while his organisation wants to close down a media house’s bank accounts unfairly – and in the process stifling media freedom, is hypocrisy at its best.
Post the discussions Tshabalala’s feedback was that the BRICS countries had reached a stalemate about the potential establishment of a common reserve currency among emerging economies in a bid to lessen the dominance of the US dollar on global trade.
Discriminatory laws and policies during apartheid have led to a financial system that marginalises black workers and communities. Residential segregation, redlining, biased appraisal markets, and algorithmic models have all contributed to unequal access to capital and credit, according to the Secretary General of the PSCU Tahir Maepa, and columnist Siyabonga Hadebe.
The duo said on June 20 that clack consumers often encountered racial profiling and indignities when attempting to engage in basic financial transactions. This systemic discrimination has resulted in a significant racial wealth gap in South Africa.
Despite nearly three decades passing since the end of apartheid, South Africa still lacks a truly black-owned bank. Black-owned banks have the potential to enhance access to capital for black individuals and businesses since they are more likely to approve loans for black applicants.
BRICS’s mandate is to strengthen collaboration in catalytic sectors such as energy, information technology, science, technology and innovation, agriculture, and the green economy. These are all important sectors identified in South Africa’s Economic Reconstruction and Recovery Plan.
The China factor is clearly evident in South Africa’s entry into the BRICS. China is definitely the most dominant constituent of the BRICS. It has massive financial stakes in South Africa, mainly in banking, infrastructure, mining, transport, and renewable energy.
However, none of this was on Tshabalala’s agenda, leaving the marginalised black folk with the impression that his attendance was only to protect the interests of the country’s white-dominated financial institutions, with no intention to debate on how to make the financial sector more inclusive for the previously disadvantaged.
Maepa pointed out, recently, that Tshabalala’s Standard Bank was the very same bank that had been reported to be in the process of mass job cuts as it planned to close 91 of its branches resulting in more than 1 200 job losses. “And the majority of those workers happen to be black, no wonder they don’t care what happens to Independent Media workers.”
The PSCU called for an end to discriminatory practices and demanded greater protection and support against the impunity of the banking sector.
Journalists and other media practitioners are front-line workers upon whom society, including financial institutions such as the banks, depend for information, entertainment, education, and influence, are the views of the Information, Communication, Technology Union (ICTU), which said recently: “We have all recently witnessed that with Covid-19 lockdowns, July unrest, floods, and with day-to-day happenings where journalists have had to face all sorts of danger.”