First Rand Bank says an order indicating that ministers cannot intervene in the relationship between banks and their clients would encourage public officials to act according to the law.
In an affidavit supporting Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan’s application for such an order in relation to the closure of the Gupta family bank accounts, First Rand CEO Johan Burger said he had not met an interministerial committee that was headed by Mineral Resources Minister Mosebenzi Zwane because there was uncertainty over the legality of the committee at the time.
Burger said in the affidavit it was "in the public interest" to grant the order.
The politically connected Gupta family sought intervention by Gordhan when the four big banks shut the family company accounts.
The family is friends with as well as benefactors to President Jacob Zuma.
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