ANC Youth League President Collen Malatji has called for the state-owned National Students’Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) and SA Social Security Agency (Sassa) to be the funding basis for the formation of a state bank.
Malatji was speaking at the ANC head office, Luthuli House. He was laying out the resolutions of the recent national general council the young lions held in Kimberly.
In that gathering, the Youth League resolved to make it their baby to ensure that the African Bank and the Post Bank are merged to form the State Bank, which is a standing resolution of the parent body, the ANC.
To those doubting who will finance this bank, Malatji said the ANC Youth League has an immediate solution.
NSFAS funds
“Urgently we are saying Sassa must move all its budget to Post Bank. We are saying NSFAS must cut these middlemen they are using and take those resources to Post Bank to assist the students,” said Malatji.
“The NGC adopted non-negotiable demands that will guide our struggle, including one people’s bank. A merger of Postbank and African Bank into a strong, state-owned bank.
“It still does not make sense why NSFAS and Sassa are not banking with the Postbank to empower that bank as a bank of option. It is because of corruption. Where officials are colluding with owners of private banks to sabotage the Post Bank.”
Malatji said the State Bank would go a long way to level the playing field in the economic space. The space is currently skewed towards people of European ancestry.
“Our people are still disadvantaged. If you go and take a loan from FNB, they might not give it to you. But they would give it to a white male without a doubt,” said Malatji.
Mainstream banks still discriminatory
“But if there is a state bank, it would give preference to those that are previously disadvantaged, and South Africans in general, and give them support.”
Malatji said the Youth League will push to see this happen as soon as yesterday.
At the ANC mother body NGC in December, he charged, all ministers within the space of making this happen will have to account for why it has not happened.
Any unsatisfactory answer will ignite calls for immediate resignations of those ministers.
Among other resolutions of the Youth League NGC, Malatji announced that they demand:
Resolutions
The NGC adopted non-negotiable demands that will guide our struggle:
• Expropriation of all land without compensation;
• Nationalisation of the commanding heights of the economy — mines, banks, and state entities must serve the people, not capital;
• Protection of township economies from foreign exploitation;
• Beneficiation of minerals — only 30% for export, with 70% processed locally to create jobs;
• Digital liberation — free access to AI and advanced digital tools for all South African youth; and
• Building a people’s state that guarantees education, healthcare, housing, sanitation, and basic services as a birth right, not a privilege.
