From Times Live

In a terrifying glimpse this week into the dark heart of unsecured lending in South Africa, a former top executive of African Bank, Tami Sokutu, scorned the poor who were sucked into debt by easy loans from his now failed company.

Sokutu, who made more than R50-million in share options and earned another R35-million in salary and bonuses from his time as Abil’s chief risk officer, was asked about those who had obtained loans but were now unable to repay them.

The lives of thousands of borrowers have been ruined because they have been listed as bad credit risks.

In response to their plight, Sokutu said: “F*** them, f*** them.”

Asked whether these people would be right to blame him for not having done a better job of controlling lending at the bank, Sokutu’s answer was simple: “They will be right to say, ‘I’m f******.'”

Sokutu joined the bank from a top civil service job in 2002 and was appointed to the board a year later. He has been on “sick leave” since September, which meant he was not actively involved in the bank, South Africa’s biggest microlender, when it spectacularly collapsed. Reserve Bank governor Gill Marcus placed it under curatorship on Sunday last week.

The collapse has sent ripples throughout the financial system. It has led to losses in pension investments – those run by Coronation among them – and wiped 0.3% from Absa’s money market funds.

But Sokutu showed no sign of remorse for the reckless splurge of lending to millions of South Africans who could not afford it, which led to African Bank’s demise.

Read more at Times Live