Former President Jacob Zuma, who defaulted on his VBS home loan, and former SAA chairperson Dudu Myeni, visited a Capitec Branch in Richards Bay, KwaZulu-Natal, on the last day of 2019.
The branch is roughly 140 kilometres from Zuma’s Nkandla homestead. Someone who was at the branch on the same day, who spoke to Business Insider South Africa on the condition of anonymity, said Zuma and Myeni, who serves as the chairperson of the Jacob Zuma Foundation, visited the branch on the afternoon of December 31.
The employee said Zuma and Myeni already has a bank account with the bank, but couldn’t disclose the reason for their visit.
“Their arrival caused quite a commotion in the branch with several employees and customers hoping to take photos of the President,” the person said.
Capitec Bank has not responded to a request for comment.
On Twitter, users speculated the reason for the duo’s visit to the branch.
Some accused Zuma of banking with the “Stellenbosch Mafia” as the banks headquartered in Stellenbosch, and others said there’s nothing odd about the former president visiting the bank.
Among his many current legal battles, Zuma is fighting a summons by the liquidators of VBS Mutual Bank for him to repay a R7.3 million home loan.
Zuma obtained a loan from VBS in 2016 to pay back the state for some of the cost of extensive upgrades to his Nkandla homestead.
VBS went in liquidation in 2018 and soon after details emerged that the bank's executives had allegedly stolen, through various schemes, R1.8 billion over several years.
Capitec does not extend home loans itself, but has a relationship with mortgage provider SA Home Loans through which its clients can apply for such loans via its branches.
