“How can I make some noise?” Meet Kelly Fraser‚ who took on a banking giant

22 February 2017 - 13:42 By Wendy Knowler
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Kelly Fraser poses for a portrait outside an FNB branch in Randburg, Johannesburg. She is the young woman who formed the FNB heists victims' Whatsapp group and has co-ordinated all their efforts to get FNB to take some responsibility for the heists and their huge losses.
Kelly Fraser poses for a portrait outside an FNB branch in Randburg, Johannesburg. She is the young woman who formed the FNB heists victims' Whatsapp group and has co-ordinated all their efforts to get FNB to take some responsibility for the heists and their huge losses.
Image: Alon Skuy/The Times

"You can lead a giant group of people at any age if you have passion and commitment."

This is what 27-year-old Kelly Fraser says she has learnt from her efforts to help South Africans who fell victim to thefts of safety deposit boxes at First National Bank.

"If not you‚ then who?"

About 18 months ago‚ thieves broke into FNB’s Sunnyside branch and made off with scores of safety deposit boxes‚ which have never been recovered.

Priceless family heirlooms‚ Kruger rands‚ important documents‚ cash - gone; and the bank pointed to its small print‚ stating that it will not be legally responsible “under any circumstances for any loss or damage that may occur to the contents”.

Until recently‚ there were no news reports about the brazen theft and the bank hadn’t offered to help the victims in any way. Each one of them suffered alone.

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It would no doubt have been the same for the victims of the safety deposit box thefts from the Randburg and Parktown FNB branches as well‚ if not for Fraser's efforts.

Her father Andrew’s box‚ containing 50 Kruger rands‚ was among the 360 stolen from the Randburg branch on December 18‚ and he only found out about it three days later when he tried to access it.

“At the time‚ there had been no media coverage of what seemed to me to be a major event‚ and I had a feeling the bank was keen to sweep the it under the carpet‚” she said.

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“So I thought ‘How can I make some noise?’‚” she said.

As it turned out‚ her job - doing social media and PR for events - and her personality - “I’m a big fan of the underdog and I like to get things done” - made her a highly effective noise maker.

She began by sending a press release about the Randburg heist to her media list.

“FNB was refusing to say how many boxes had been taken‚ and we knew for sure it was 360‚ so I started saying that‚ publicly.”

Then‚ just before Christmas‚ she formed a Whatsapp group and a Facebook page for the victims.

“I knew that if we stood together‚ we wouldn’t be small and insignificant anymore. All I had to do was find the others…”

“At first there were just five of us‚ and then they poured in‚ up to 20 a day‚” she said.

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On New Year’s Eve the victim count grew when thieves helped themselves to the contents of about 30 safety deposit boxes in FNB’s Parktown branch - valuables and R1‚7 million in cash.

Today about 200 of the victims of the three break-ins have formed a close bond‚ sharing their stories and their feelings of loss‚ anger‚ betrayal and guilt at having lost the family heirlooms entrusted to them for future generations.

Their meetings are not just online - Fraser and her fellow committee members have arranged a couple of Saturday morning meetings to discuss strategy; their main argument being that the bank failed to take appropriate steps to secure their safety deposit boxes.

“It felt like I was pulling them into our life raft‚ one by one‚” Fraser said. “Suddenly they had the space to talk about what they were going through‚ while the bank at that stage was issuing only very terse‚ legal statements.”

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At her young age‚ she’s become something of a mother figure to the victims. She’s spoken to every one‚ one-on-one‚ many of them on an ongoing basis.

She makes herself available 24/7‚ offering constant support and advice.

“Sometimes I do think I’ve created a monster; I worry about whether I’ll deliver on the hope I have given them.

“My day job has suffered along with my health - I’m not eating or exercising as I should.

“But it’s so worth it. I feel honoured to be able to make such a difference for so many people. How often does such an opportunity come along in a lifetime?”

The turning point for the group came in mid-January when Fraser and and a few victims were interviewed on Bruce Whitfield’s Money Show on Talk702. “We (the committee) had spoken to our lawyers and been well briefed‚ so we came across well.” Soon afterwards‚ FNB CEO Jacques Celliers agreed to an interview with Talk702. “And then came the first of the concessions…”.

The bank offered to help the victims apply and pay for replacement identity documents‚ and pay the insurance excess for the few who had insured the contents of their boxes.

"FNB will‚ despite not being legally obliged to do so‚ take a further step to help impacted customers by initiating settlement discussions with uninsured Randburg‚ Parktown and Sunnypark customers who had their safety deposit boxes tampered with‚” the bank’s press release read.

Then came the Carte Blanche insert‚ including the security footage showing the thieves in action. Shortly after that‚ FNB executives invited committee members to a meeting where‚ as Fraser put it‚ “they were very apologetic‚ said they had an open door policy‚ and that they were open to discussing compensation‚ to be assessed on a case by case basis”.

“At the moment bank officials are making contact with victims and asking for documentation pertaining to their claims‚” she said.

“I’m so hoping the offers they make are fair.”

DO YOU NEED A CONSUMER CHAMPION?: You can contact our consumer columnist Wendy Knowler with your queries via email: consumer@knowler.co.za or on Twitter: @wendyknowler.

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