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Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) leader Julius Malema has revealed that the party is now pushing for a state-owned bank that will operate along the lines of the defunct VBS Mutual Bank.
The party has already submitted a private member's bill in Parliament to set up a state-owned bank.
This comes as the EFF has been patting itself on the back of the national agenda ahead of the next year's general elections.
The player has played a key role in ensuring that the ANC supports the expedition of land without compensation.
"We want a state-owned bank that will work like VBS. VBS was giving people who were building houses on communal land loans and bonds.
"We need a bank that is going to intervene," Malema told reporters in the financial sector during the EFF's manifesto consultation assembly, which took place in Bryanston, Sandton, on Friday night.
The assembly was attended by businesspeople and bankers, among others.
Malema said some "crooks contributed to the collapse of the VBS", but added that the bank was targeted by the mainstream because the municipalities were no longer banking with the country's major banks.
"VBS was fresh air in the banking sector in South Africa. I was shocked that the EFF did not oppose the liquidation after it said we must rescue the bank, "he said.
"We must be ashamed of ourselves. It was one of the banks owned by black people in a sector that is white dominated.
"The money that was supposed to go into the mainstream was going to go into a mutual bank.
He said VBS failed "because it was told that all the money of the municipalities which is there is all go away. There was nothing wrong with VBS. The only wrong was when they took [the money] for themselves. "
Municipalities deposited millions into VBS – going against the National Treasury directive that they invest money in mutual banks.
The Pretoria High Court this week issued a final order to liquidate VBS after the SA Reserve Bank's Prudential Authority applied for the final liquidation of the bank.
Malema also announced that the EFF would target the financial sector, saying it was not transformed.
"We must disrupt the financial sector because without any disruption, it will not be transformed. We need leadership to change the status quo. "
Malema also suggested that there was a need for a strong education system in the country.
"There is no school in South Africa that has no mathematics, especially in the rural areas. We must give our people everything that was denied, and at the center of that education.
"If you pass it, you will not know what it is." "If you pass with 33%, it means you know nothing."
A banker in attendance said the EFF's message resonated with most young professionals.
"We do not have any other home. That is why people are getting up and going to the end. We are experiencing systemic issues in the financial sector. "
An Indian businessman said: "The perception in the Indian community is that the EFF is here to run us down and take our businesses."
Malema gave the assurance that no Indians or whites would be chased out of South Africa.
"They will leave voluntarily because the empowerment of black people is threatens privilege," he said.
EFF national chairperson Dali Mpofu told the audience: "We have proven that for the EFF to make things happen we do not have to in power.
But it will be better if we are in power. It would be better if you vote for us. "
He said the meeting was engaging with citizens about the burning issues they wanted to see highlighted in the EFF's manifesto.
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