Burials halted as iThala Bank funds are frozen

Burials for loved ones have been halted for many local communities as funds, required for the ceremonies, have been frozen due to the ongoing court battle between Prudential Authority and iThala Bank.

In response, hundreds of iThala clients – joined by religious forums – prayed at Manguzi iThala Bank before handing over their memorandum of grievances to authorities on Thursday.

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Bishop Ezrom Mbonambi said religious forums such as uMhlabuyalingana Religious Leaders’ Forum, Tembe Traditional Council of Churches, Kosi Bay Christian Ministers’ Fraternity, Spiritual Crime Prevention, and various churches prayed for an amicable solution to the crisis.

“Hundreds of elderly people are forced to sleep outside banks to open accounts as iThala operations are suspended,” he said, outlining the suffering of clients.

“Some are still lamenting that they cannot get their money as it has been frozen. Pensioners were saving their money there, business people were saving their money there. Burial societies cannot do anything as they can’t access their money.”

ALSO READ: King Misuzulu expresses concern over bank licence suspension

Mbonambi said one elderly citizen says she had saved money for her granddaughter’s university education, but could not access it in December.

“A second pensioner claimed she was collecting pension funds for her late husband from the same bank and all that has been frozen. Shockingly, employees from this bank have not been paid for almost six months, due to this development,” he said.

They understand the issue that iThala Bank has no banking licence, he says, however, ‘it has been operating without any challenges for years’.

“We urge the authorities to work towards granting iThala bank a licence and releasing money for poor people,” he said, adding that it wasn’t just residents from uMhlabuyalingana, but the entire province.

The memorandum was handed over to Mr Makhanya from the Department of Economic Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs, who told the attendees their money was still intact in the bank and they should not panic.

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