Speaking at the bank's open day on Wednesday, SACP general secretary and chairperson of the Financial Sector Campaign Coalition, Blade Nzimande, said that the bank had proved in practice that "the poor are bankable and worth having access to affordable banking and other financial services".
Nzimande said the bank's open day was taking place during the month of October, a month during which the SACP launched its Red October Campaign in 2003, to transform the financial sector to be in line with the demands of growth and development in a democratic South Africa.
He said the tabling of the Financial Sector Charter was an important victory for the SACP and the Financial Sector Campaign Coalition.
He said for the last three years the SACP had campaigned ceaselessly for the transformation of the financial sector in the country, in line with its growth and development objectives, and the challenge of job creation, sustainable livelihoods and communities, and poverty eradication.
He said the SACP also welcomed the commitment to extend other financial services and products including life and other insurance products to this sector of the society.
Nzimande said: "However, we are still concerned that this measure still excludes those earning below R1 500, as well as vulnerable workers like domestic, farm, seasonal, and casual workers as well as those receiving state social security grants (like the aged, children and the disabled)."
He added: "We see Teba Bank as a very strategic institution, which has been a trailblazer in banking the workers and the poor.