Who gets the credit?
Executive Chairman of Master Currency, Zithulele “KK” Combi, talks of the
imbalances within the financial services sector.
“It starts with personal banking,” says Zithulele Combi
C
ape-based businessman, Zithulele “KK” Combi, has
called for transformation in the credit committees
of South Africa’s major banks. He alleges that 20
years after democracy these committees are still
headed by people who perceive black people as
risky.
Combi, who established a black-owned forex company Master
Currency in 1995, is now a non-executive director of the JSE-listed
investment firm, PSG Group. He is also the executive chairman of
the empowerment company, Thembeka Capital.
Sharing his experiences as a businessman and as a bank
customer over the past 20 years, Combi says that deserving black
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people in the country have been deprived of credit much needed to
buy assets and create wealth.
‘The reason is that the credit committees are still fully loaded
with white males who still see black people as risky. However,
if you look at the big legal cases where banks are chasing their
money, most of the companies they are chasing are white-owned.
Look at the houses that are on sale in (high-end suburbs) Camps
Bay, Sea Point and Sandton. Look [at] who’s selling – if you look
at the liquidation auctions you will find out. I have been in the
property business and I know this.’
Combi says that few black people own houses in these high-end
suburbs.
Edition 9
2014/04/07 9:03 AM