Latest news with #Rooplal
IOL News
16-07-2025
- Business
- IOL News
Calls for independent review of Treasury's funding decisions for SA Post Office
The BRPs said that Sapo was currently operating under severe austerity measures, which curtailed its operational capacity and threaten its ongoing services. Image: Bhekikhaya Mabaso/Independent Newspapers The Deputy Minister for Communications and Digital Technologies, Mondli Gungubele, has advocated for an independent system to review the National Treasury's decisions regarding urgent funding requirements. This call to action follows the controversial rejection by Treasury of a R3.8 billion proposed rescue package intended for the beleaguered South African Post Office (Sapo), which Gungubele on Tuesday argued had successfully navigated the business rescue process. "I wish there would be an independent system that scrutinises that. In our view, with all the calculations we have made, if we were to talk about cost-benefit analysis, had that R3.8bn been paid, a lot would have been saved rather than lost," Gungubele told the Parliament's Standing Committee on Public Accounts on Tuesday. "But it is the thing of Treasury. I am saying I wish there could be an independent system to deal with such rejections or acceptance when it comes to crises of this nature." Gungubele's support for the Sapo Business Rescue Practitioners (BRPs), Anoosh Rooplal and Juanito Ramos, highlighted that while all necessary processes had been executed, the pivotal funding gap still loomed large. The BRPs said that Sapo was currently operating under severe austerity measures, which curtailed its operational capacity and threaten its ongoing services. Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Next Stay Close ✕ "It is not ideal but we are up to date with all our payments. Right now we are paying creditors in the course of business except of course the R120 million. In November or December, the entity will need more working capital requirement, which only would not arise if we had received the R3.8bn," Rooplal said. "We are looking at some deferral arrangement for the R520m, which is conditional upon funding. It's not a guaranteed payment to creditors." Rooplal said the delayed major portion of the rescue plan was the payment of the 18 cents per rand top up to the creditors, which once paid would have dealt with all creditors according to the plan. He said the next thing would have been to have funding towards working capital and steered toward the right investment in uplifting the structure and even that we would have worked with the incoming board. "The one aspect is around strategic private partnerships. That's in progress. That progress has been lifted up to the joint task team and rightly so because you need to involve Treasury to unlock funding and to help to assess the prospective partnerships," Rooplal said. "We believe its good governance and it is sitting with the right decision makers. We add the BRPs to the joint task team, that in a nutshell is what the dashboard looks like." "There is only literally one aspect left for us to set up the plan and that is to pay the R520m to agency and concurrent creditors, and we would be in a position to discharge. But that obviously depends on funding as we highlighted." The BRPs further detailed their financial landscape, indicating that the R7.4bn in compromised creditor claims had left the entity in a precarious position. "We would have discharged this months ago. Had the funding come in sooner, we would have been able to implement the last outstanding items," Rooplal said. "But unfortunately we had to make a plan so to speak and we had to press the entity back to austerity mode so it's really limiting our ability to expand and spend because we don't have the money to spend on anything other than keeping the lights on and basic services moving. "Currently, funding available is Universal Services Obligation funding and we all know that it must go to a specific purpose. That R572m then there is the Temporary Employee Relief Scheme funding of R381m, which has a specific purpose. We then depend on the revenue that Sapo generates on a general basis." BUSINESS REPORT
TimesLIVE
01-07-2025
- Business
- TimesLIVE
About a third of R2.3bn looted from VBS Mutual Bank recovered
Nearly R730m has now been clawed back from the wreckage of VBS Mutual Bank, the South African Reserve Bank's Prudential Authority (PA) said in its latest annual report. A figure confirmed by VBS Mutual Bank liquidator Anoosh Rooplal, this is almost a third of the about R2.3bn plundered through fraud and theft. Advocate Terry Motau's 148-page report — 'VBS Mutual Bank: The Great Bank Heist', released in October 2018 — blew the lid off the looting, leading to 29 criminal cases, with nine matters currently now before the courts. VBS Mutual Bank was placed in final liquidation in November 2018. 'Collection efforts on the loan book are ongoing, with significant progress achieved to date,' the report states. 'The current focus is on securing further recoveries for the benefit of the proven creditors.' Rooplal has already made payments to creditors since taking over the bank's affairs. In 2022, he paid R159m — amounting to 7c in the rand to proven concurrent creditors. In December last year, he paid R458m, which constitutes 20c in the rand. Asked when he will make the next payment, Rooplal said on Monday that it was an ongoing process, 'but the significant dividends have been paid'. The second dividend distribution in December brought the total payments to creditors to R617m, he said at the time. There is no court date yet for the liquidation application of Ithala SOC Limited (Ithala Bank), the PA said in its report. 'The liquidation application is still being ventilated,' the Reserve Bank clarified on Monday. 'The matter will only become ripe for hearing after all parties have filed their respective papers. As such, there has been no communication from the court regarding the outcome of the application.' Lack of co-operation by Ithala In January, the PA filed an application for the provisional liquidation of the entity, alleging that it was unlawfully accepting deposits. Ithala Bank, the Ithala Development Finance Corporation and KwaZulu-Natal's MEC for economic development are opposing the matter. This follows the PA's appointment of a repayment administrator to help transfer the deposits held by Ithala to a registered bank. 'However, the progress was hindered by a lack of interest from registered institutions and co-operation by Ithala,' the PA says in its report. 'The PA and the repayment administrator have since held regular engagements with relevant stakeholders to find a solution for transferring the deposits as quickly as possible in parallel to the liquidation application,' it said. After the PA filed for Ithala's provisional liquidation, the entity's deposit accounts were frozen — according to the Reserve Bank, 'to preserve the funds and prevent it from using depositors' funds for other operational purposes'. But Francois Rodgers, the DA MEC for finance, told Business Times last week that they wanted to interdict the Reserve Bank's liquidation efforts. 'We are in a situation where some depositors have hundreds of thousands that they cannot access due to the liquidation, which is wrong,' he told the paper. Business Day reached out to both Rodgers and his spokesperson but received no response. Business Day previously reported that finance minister Enoch Godongwana approved a R2bn guarantee to Ithala Bank's 223,166 retail depositors. The guarantee would facilitate payments to the depositors by one or more banking institutions to ensure the accounts of depositors can be migrated timeously and funds can be made available. Current risks to the banking sector In her overview, Reserve Bank deputy governor and CEO of the PA Fundi Tshazibana noted that as macroeconomic conditions improved and inflationary pressures subsided, South African banks were likely to see an improvement in their credit risk profiles over the short to medium term. 'However, geopolitical tensions and increased conflicts continue to pose uncertainties and risks to the sector,' she said. 'Globally, there appears to be a growing trend towards deregulation, with an emphasis on reducing capital and other regulatory requirements for banks. As we look ahead, it will be crucial for South African banks to remain vigilant, ensuring strong governance and risk management practices to safeguard the banking system.'
