Nearly 1,000 South Africans could lose their jobs following seizure of Danpullo’s assets in the country

By Hans Ngala

JOHANNESBURG – Close to a thousand South Africans could become jobless after the liquidation of Baba Danpullo’s assets in the country. Some 800 South Africans are already unemployed after First National Bank (FNB) – one of the country’s largest banks seized and liquidated Danpullo’s properties, valued at over 520 million Rands (nearly 20 billion CFA).

When contacted by our CNA reporter, FNB declined to give any details surrounding the saga and instead emailed our reporter a response which stated in part:
“FNB cannot disclose the details of any specific bank accounts due to client confidentiality. The bank can confirm that its debt collection processes comply with the laws governing credit agreements…
If a customer fails to meet their credit agreement obligations, despite our best efforts, the bank may take legal action as a last resort.”

Because our reporter sought to know whether FNB’s actions were driven by xenophobia, the bank claimed that “our debt recovery processes are implemented consistently irrespective of a client’s nationality.”

Danpullo is a business tycoon who has been in the real estate business in South Africa since the early 1990s, acquiring real estate properties valued at 4 billion Rands (nearly 150 billion CFA).

In 2017, Danpullo secured a loan of 520 million Rands (about 20 billion CFA) to purchase another building in South Africa, with a repayment of 10m Rand a month (about 370 million CFA) to be spread over 10 years with interest.

Leading South African news website IOL, quotes Danpullo’s daughter, Maimouna Baba Danpullo as saying that FNB “decided with no reason, to put an end to the credit agreement and demand its immediate repayment”.
The matter has taken another turn now with President Paul Biya of Cameroon who is a close friend of Danpullo’s, having been approached to contact his South African counterpart, Cyril Ramaphosa for the latter to intervene as people’s jobs are at stake.
Maimouna Danpullo also revealed that President Biya had written to President Ramaphosa but there hadn’t been an answer and when IOL reached out to President Ramaphosa’s spokesperson, he did not respond.
According to IOL, “Maimouna believes FNB’s decision was to pave the way for white people to dominate the sector. She claimed the sector was “controlled by the white minority, grouped in large banking and insurance groups”.
She added: “Very few, not to say no South Africans individually, own such an impressive real estate portfolio, which is why when the players in the real estate properties realized that these real estate properties belonged to a foreigner, moreover black, they decided to kick him out”.

Danpullo has since received a court order in Cameroon permitting him to seize the bank accounts of MTN in Cameroon in an effort to recover some of the money he has lost due to the liquidation of his assets in South Africa. This is because MTN is a South African subsidiary. The court authorized him to seize the bank accounts and assets of MTN and Chococam that are subsidiaries of the Public Investment Corporate (PIC) which is itself a shareholder of FirstRand Bank which owns FNB.