On the eve of the release of the Transformation in Banking Report for the years 2016 to 2019, the National Union of Metalworkers and the South African Federation of Trade Unions have joined the Black Business Council in loudly condemning Absa and First National for their decision to terminate banking services to Ayo Technology Solutions.
The suspension of Ayo’s banking services, says Saftu in a statement, is motivated by race and a desire to crush a legitimate black ICT enterprise. “FNB and Absa are shareholders in white-owned ICT companies. In other words, their attacks on Sekunjalo business group could be motivated by the need to drive competitors out of business.”Meanwhile, anrevealed that Absa terminated banking services to companies linked to Sekunjalo Investment Holdings in 2020.
When it comes to management, black representation has increased every year in percentage terms across all levels. “At each management level, the percentage of black people in 2019 is the highest on record,” says Stuart Theobald, chairman of Intellidex which conducted the research on behalf of Basa.Notably, 65% of all middle managers within the 18 banks surveyed are black. For the first time, there are more African than white middle managers.