Political parties on Friday welcomed Deutsche Bank’s move to sell 25% of its South African operations to empowerment groups.
African National Congress spokesperson Smuts Ngonyama said the decision shows the bank believes local players can add value to the business.
Foreign banks are not obliged to sell stakes of their businesses to black economic empowerment partners — they have the option of making up empowerment credits in other ways.
Deutsche Bank is the first to make this move voluntarily.
Ngonyama said the decision shows ”an appreciation of the need for transformation in the financial sector”.
Ten percent of the operation will be sold to current and future black staff at the bank, and the other 15% to black empowerment group Uthajiri Financial Services, the bank announced on Thursday.
”The deal represents a radical departure from what we have been accustomed to, where it is only the ANC fat cats that were reaping the rewards of black economic empowerment,” Inkatha Freedom Party Youth Brigade chairperson Thulasizwe Buthelezi said in a statement.
He said he hopes other black economic empowerment deals will begin to emulate the spirit of the Uthajiri deal.
Deutsche Bank official Martin Kingston said it is very rare for the bank to enter into partnerships; it owns 100% of its operations worldwide.
However, ”Black staff ownership … will help to attract and retain the most sought-after black staff,” he said.
The value of the deal was not specified on Thursday, but Uthajiri chairperson Dali Mpofu said: ”We could not have hoped for a better maiden deal.” — Sapa