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FNB crime fight 'misdirected'
05/02/2007 20:54 - (SA)
Johannesburg - First National Bank's multimillion-rand, anti-crime campaign was a misdirected effort, said parliament's standing committee of public accounts (Scopa) on Monday.
FNB's R20m campaign involved print, television and radio advertisements and invited members of the public to write to President Thabo Mbeki about their experiences of crime.
The bank withdrew its initiative on Friday, but said it would go ahead with it at a later date.
Scopa chair Themba Godi told the SABC on Monday that FNB was one of the banks making huge amounts of money from ordinary South Africans.
Instead, it should be making more money available to help the less-fortunate in starting their own businesses.
Can alleviate poverty levels
This, in turn, would fight the poverty that fuelled the crime situation.
Godi said: "I'm saying that if they have money and want to assist there is more they can do to alleviate the poverty levels, the inequality levels in the country, that will go a long way in assisting to create a much-more-stable and equitable society that will be a follow-up against criminality."
Godi said the initiative was counterproductive and that if FNB wanted to help fight crime they should do so unconditionally as crime was every citizen's challenge.
The SA Chamber of Business (Sacob) said it welcomed "constructive efforts" to reduce crime.
'A real social issue'
Sacob president Deidre Penfold would not take sides in the debate, however, after FNB's decision to drop its anti-crime advertising campaign. FNB is a Sacob member.
"I don't want to personally comment on whether FNB was right or wrong.
"Whatever the reasons for the withdrawal, everybody is entitled to express their concerns in whatever way they believe.
"The level of crime in South Africa constitutes a real social issue on which the constituents of Sacob have expressed, and continue to express, their utmost concern.
"The rule of law and its maintenance... has an impact on the attractiveness of South Africa as a potential investment destination," said Penfold.
The African Democratic Christian Party (ACDP) found it "difficult to believe" that the government did not exert some pressure on FNB to drop its campaign.
ANC's public image
ACDP leader the Rev Kenneth Meshoe called on Monday on the government to end its "self-serving mentality".
"While the country is clamouring for solutions and reassurance, the government is choosing to bury its head in the sand, and to view crime and attitudes to crime primarily in terms of how it affects the public image of the ANC."
Meshoe also slammed government spokesperson Themba Maseko's comment that the campaign was a form of incitement against Mbeki.
The Sunday Times reported Maseko as saying: "Trying to incite people to behave in a certain way towards the head of state cannot be condoned."
Meshoe called on FNB to retain its campaign in its present form in an attempt to address the needs of the country, not the needs of the ANC.
Presidential spokesperson Mukoni Ratshitanga and deputy president Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka have both denied the government put pressure on FNB to drop the initiative.
The Democratic Alliance, Pan Africanist Congress and trade union Solidarity also have criticised FNB's decision to put the campaign on hold.
An FNB spokesperson said the bank would go ahead with its anti-crime campaign, but on Monday morning would not say when.
The bank dropped the campaign, reportedly after a meeting on Friday which included senior African National Congress leaders.
Business Against Crime 'not there'
FirstRand Bank chief executive Paul Harris told the Sunday Times the matter had been discussed with a "broad range of stakeholders".
Business Against Crime (BAC) said that reports that it had attended the FNB meeting with the government and its security cluster were false.
BAC chief executive Siphiwe Nzimande said on Monday: "As for that alleged meeting, no one from BAC attended."
Commenting on the R20m campaign, he said his personal view was: "It springs out of that desire to show they are seen to be doing something (against crime)."
The BAC came out in support of President Thabo Mbeki, saying no assertion had been made by the president that crime levels in the country were not high.
Nzimande said: "In a specific meeting in August, there was no debate by the president that crime levels were high and he acknowledged the seriousness of crime in South Africa."
- SAPA
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