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Cape Town – Gupta-owned Oakbay Investments CEO Nazeem Howa on Monday defended his decision to make direct contact with cabinet members in a desperate bid to stop a bank boycott of the firm.
Howa told Oakbay staff in an internal letter that he had been in direct contact with the Office of the President, Labour Minister Mildred Oliphant, Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan and Mines Minister Mosebenzi Zwane to “express deep disappointment over the decisions of our banking partners and to make it very clear that livelihoods are at risk if we are unable to restore these important banking relationships”.
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Explaining why he wrote to several politicians last week, Howa told Bloomberg on Monday: “Very simply, to save jobs.”
“That was the only reason for writing to the institutions,” he said. “The minister of Finance is politically responsible for the banking sector and it is unprecedented for … the four major banking institutions to all walk away from a business.
“It was to plea for some kind of assistance and guidance on how we can restore those relationships,” he said. “There is no other reason why we would do that.”
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The big four banks - Standard Bank, FNB, Absa and Nedbank - have all shunned doing business with the Gupta-owned firm without giving them any reasons, Howa told Bloomberg and CNN.
Asked what response he’s had from the politicians, he said: “Very little right now from the political leadership. We will continue to do whatever it takes … to really plea for the jobs of our people.”
This stems from a ruling in the Supreme Court of Appeal in 2010, which made it clear that banks are constitutionally permitted to cut ties with customers without giving reasons, even if it’s not fair.
“(Standard Bank) gave the appellants a reasonable time to take their business elsewhere,” ruled Supreme Court of Appeal deputy president Louis Harms ruled against John Bredenkamp. “The termination did not offend any identifiable constitutional value and was not otherwise contrary to any other public policy consideration. The bank did not publicise the closure or the reasons for its decision.”
Oakbay's auditor KPMG, the big four banks (Standard Bank, FNB, Absa and Nedbank) and their JSE sponsor Sasfin Capital all cut ties with the Guptas in early 2016, as the family faces pressure due to allegations that they influenced President Jacob Zuma's appointment of Mines Minister Mosebenzi Zwane and former finance minister Des van Rooyen, as well as offering ministerial posts to Deputy Finance Minister Mcebisi Jonas and former ANC MP Vytjie Mentor.
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