The SACP has called on unions to bail out the cash-strapped UBank in a bid to stop it from falling into the hands of the Gupta family.
Trade unions were urged to use their investments to keep UBank afloat, after it emerged Oakbay Investments, owned by the Gupta family, was making a play to buy the bank, which serves mainly mineworkers.
UBank is owned by Teba Trust, which is administered jointly by the Chamber of Mines and the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM).
Its trustees are hard-pressed to raise R1 billion to meet capital requirements and for growth.
They will be expected to table a recapitalisation plan to the SA Reserve Bank on July 1, when the trust will be obliged to reveal its new partners and details of the financing of the R152 million capital injection needed to keep its banking licence.
The NUM said it won’t sell, especially to Oakbay, but it must find investors willing to sink money into the retail bank.
Cosatu said it supported the SACP’s call for unions to step in should NUM fail to raise the money.