Launch of Cooperative Bank for Women, Youth and People with Disabilities is imminent, Dlamini-Zuma

Johnathan Paoli

Presenting to the multi-party women’s caucus in parliament on Thursday, Minister Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma said that the DWYPD is moving forward with setting up a cooperative bank for the specific purpose of advancing the inclusion of women, youth and persons with disabilities and their businesses and other co-operatives.

The South African Innovative Financial Services (SAIFS) bank is expected to assist vulnerable groups in taking control of their own “financial destiny” and freeing themselves from abuse in line with the department’s mandate.

Dlamini-Zuma said that although it is a government initiative, the cooperative bank being proposed was not a state bank or government bank and that plans for the bank were drawn up in cooperation with the Cooperative Banks Development Agency (CBDA) in order to ensure that no mistakes were made.

In addition, the minister said that due to the bank’s expected function as a deposit-taking institution, registration with