Assets liquid after bank vault flood

Water got the better of a highly secure vault at Standard Bank's Sandton branch last weekend.

The underground vault, which holds the documents and other precious goods of wealthy and cautious clients, was flooded when a fire hose malfunctioned and compromised the contents of more than 500 safe-deposit boxes.

The bank confirmed that it had experienced a "leak" when water penetrated the "robotised" safe-deposit box area. Spokesman Ross Linstrom said all affected customers were asked to examine the content of their boxes.

One client, who asked not to be identified, said the highly secure facility was "a super-duper, all-electronic affair".

"On gaining entry to a special reviewing room via a card and fingerprint scanning gadget, a client types his pin number on a screen and then sits back and waits.

"The relevant safety box is located deep down in the dungeon and it is deposited into a console in front of the client - all electronic, untouched by human hand," he said.

The client, a mining consultant, said he was lucky that his belongings were not damaged by the incident. "Several customers who were at the bank at the same time as me were worried that their business or private documents had been damaged by the flooding, saying that some of them were irreplaceable," he said.

The annual rental of a safe-deposit box can run as high as R9800 depending on the size. Standard Bank has a two-month waiting list for its standard A4 boxes.

The bank has reassured its customers, saying only those contacted to inspect their boxes were at risk.

"Customers who have not been contacted can be assured that their safe-deposit boxes have not been affected by the water leak," said Linstrom.