By Levy Masiteng
The board of Ithala SOC Limited has resigned, KwaZulu-Natal Premier Thamsanqa Ntuli announced on Tuesday.
Ntuli said the resignations were received and processed at the institution’s recent annual general meeting.
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He said this was part of efforts to stabilise Ithala and restore public confidence in the institution. More announcements on governance reforms and stabilisation measures would follow, the premier added.
The resignations follow public signals over the weekend that the province was preparing to reconfigure the board.
On 12 April, the KwaZulu-Natal government said “decisive action” was underway, including an urgent shareholder meeting, board reconfiguration, and investigations into executive management, after “serious” governance and compliance failures at Ithala.
Reports a day later said the AGM would cut short current board memberships.
The board shake-up comes as the province tries to steady Ithala after National Treasury said in December it would make up to R2.2 billion available to repay depositors.
By April 12, the provincial government said 64,801 customer payments had been processed, representing about 32% of clients, with payouts totalling roughly R1.65 billion.
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Ithala’s crisis escalated after the Prudential Authority applied on 16 January 2025 for its provisional liquidation, saying the entity was technically and legally insolvent.
National Treasury later said depositors had been unable to access their funds since January 2025 following that application, while the South African Reserve Bank said Ithala had never been a registered bank and, from 16 January 2025, could no longer receive or pay out deposits from the affected accounts.