So Julius Malema has upped the ante in his campaign against Nedbank, the unfortunate target of his ire after they withdrew their sponsorship of Athletics South Africa in the wake of the Caster Semenya debacle.
“When we called for Nedbank senior managers to engage us on this matter, they sent junior black managers. We will teach them a lesson if they continue doing that. We will mobilise people to withdraw their money and bank with other banks,” he apparently told thousands of our future leaders, currently known as University of Zululand students.
I wonder how many of the masses will take him up on his suggestion. Does Droolius know what a schlep it is to close a bank account and open another one? Does he know how many forms have to be filled in? How all your debit orders have to be changed? How HR has to be informed. Please. People will stone the police, they will go to jail, but don’t ask them to stand in line at a bank.
The anti-Nedbank campaign (gosh, remember when they were the bank for “those people” … how things have changed) is of course the latest in a long history of consumer boycotts in South Africa. Remember how the masses were going to boycott Vodacom earlier this year? Yeah right. As Cosatu was forced to admit, this would be “a difficult campaign to sustain”.
Which brings me to a central point about boycotts: it can be really, really difficult to enforce them. Even when Cell C and MTN offer alternatives, nobody could be bothered to cancel their Vodacom contracts or stop using their Vodacom SIMs. Cellphones and their use are simply too deeply entrenched in South African society for a boycott to have a hope in hell.
Boycotts work best when the negative publicity that accrues from them forces a change in behaviour of the target corporate. Recently, the power of social media was brought to bear on Nestle, after revelations that the company buys milk from dairy farms that Grace Mugabe stole from their rightful owners. Nestle has been the target of various boycotts since the 70s (have a look at how many anti-Nestle Facebook groups are out there), but this one seems, on the surface at least, to have had a measure of impact. Nestle’s reputation in South Africa has suffered and I for one will never be able to enjoy Milo quite as much again, much as I love it.
I would be surprised if Nedbank feels much impact, if any, from the effusions of the ANCYL. Maybe they would be more vulnerable than an Absa or a Standard Bank because their market share is relatively low. Still, I wouldn’t worry if I were them. After all, the sort of customer who takes politicians seriously enough to close a bank account because Julius says so is probably the sort of customer you don’t want anyway.
If, as you say, Sarah, it wasn’t such a schlep to close a bank account and open another one, I’d close my Standard Bank account and open a Nedbank account to support their withdrawal of support from the liar Chuene and the incompetent ASA.
Won’t somebody please shut Julius up!?
I’m on my way to OPEN a Nedbank account.
I agree about the schlep re changing your account. Its massive and the main reason why I am still with same bank despite many years of dissatisfaction.
The monthly aggravation from dealing with (as little as possible if I can possibly help it) my lousy bank (not Nedbank) is nothing compared to the aggravation of changing accounts. One would have open a new account with new bank, jump through the FICA hoops, cancel stop orders at old bank, create them at new bank, deal with the aggrieved creditors etc when new bank fails to create stop order correctly. Then try again and hope and pray the bank gets it right / all of them right the following month.
Now debit orders, including those covering any loan agreements. Write letters to payees, tell them about new bank account, deal with cut off electricity etc when either payee or their bank fail to create properly, etc etc..
I would do almost anything rather than change my bank account on principle.
This a HUGE AMOUNT different from a Nestle boycott. That would work as enough people would boycott their products enough of the time for them to notice the drop in their sales.
But Nedbank accounts? Nah
PS “Droolius” LOVE THE NAME!!!!!
Brilliantly put Sarah
I love your article. Very valid and once again Julius’ ego is as big as his mouth with his foot in it. I would imagine the impact felt by Nedbank will be a positive one which is often the case from negative pubicity as any publicity is usually good in the end. When will ‘Droolius’ stop making a spectacle of himself and the ANC. When will the ANC do something about ‘Droolius’….
A short while ago the threatened target was Nandos. Nothing came of it! Now it is Nedbank. Again nothing will come of it!
I battle to understand why we give this boy so much attention and media space!
You are so correct, i could not be bothered to change my bank account, they are all an irritation anyway. And as Graham put it, i’d rather MOVE to Nedbank in support of them (except that it is too much of a hassle!). i think Droolius is taking the p#@ss almost all the time; he cannot really believe all the drivel that comes out of his own mouth. i really think he sits back in the evening and laughs at all of us getting so worked up about him. He is not a stupid man despite his lack of education (Zuma isn’t well educated either and he is super smart).
Haha! That last sentence neatly sums up my sentiments!
No to worry, most Malema-fans have a mattress-account anyway.Army’s
You hav to be at the same level as Julius to take him serious. Even the ANCYL is still using a Nedbank account
hehehehe. julius does it again. love the entertainment.
@ Cheryl, define super smart for me please he, he, he, he….
I have to agree with Graham…. for taking a stand against the lies and corruption I am on my way to open a Nedbank account.
Malema, don’t be silly now, how can your 60,000 of supporters who bank with Nedbank close their accounts. Where will they get the money to pay off their loan and overdraft facilities.
I’m closing mine and open another account with another bank.
I know you guys you would not close yours because of overdraft you are owing and you simply find solance in bashing Malema to feel better of your indebtness to your bank.
Another article by an agent of the counter revolution. Viva comrade julius
I dont bank with Nedbank but I would not change
Thank you Sarah for this one, had our whole office in tears of laughter, and yes , we bank at Nedbank !
Just open a cheque account, credit card and move my home loan to them after hearing the threats. I think Droolius is giving them free airtime. Easy!!!
One wonders how long it will take before the leaders of the ANC realize that Julius Malema is seen as a rabid-racist-rabble-rouser by the majority of intelligent people, black, white, pink, green …….
One also wonders whether the ANC has the wish or will, the clout or ability to quieten the clown before it is too late……?
I told Nedbank they should have bought the Julius puppet from Nando’s.
They could have borrowed a brain cell from any other sponsor of ASA.
I commend Nedbank for its actions and I’m seriously considering banking with them. Maybe with Julius and his ”boycotting” masses gone, the queues will be shorter.
And the black power salute goes to Mugabe, since five of Nestle’s bank accounts have been frozen by the Zimbabwean government. Does Nedbank operate there?
Banks don’t sponsor sport because they love our downtrodden sports people, they sponsor it to improve their image, get some extra media coverage and their logos flashed across our TV screens, where they expect us to subliminally decide to change banks.
Unfortunately, most sport lovers are by then drowning in beer and couldn’t give a toss who they bank with.
It’s all done to make the bank look GOOD!
The Caster debacle makes anyone rooting for ASA look decidedly BAD. That’s why Nedbank pulled out. It was a business decision, not a political decision or a bleeding heart obituary.
Yeah and they charge you to close the account and to withdraw the change left. Little known fact.
well there we go again. Malema once again. Why leave this country when there is so much to talk about. I was recently treated very badly by my car insurance the logical ting was to leave them, I told them i was leaving. They would surely be shocked to hear me requesting another hired car while i wait for mine from the panelbeaters
Because of Nedbank’s publicity stunt on the environment related concerns and their association with Mandela Children’s Fund, as part of my Social responsibility, i was about to open to a future savings account with them and also increase my Home loan account, but, now, i’ve changed my mind. This bank is not what i initially thought it was. It’s just as racist as Tereblanche’s right wing AWB.
Sorry Neddy, from now forward, you aint getting even a cent from my hard earned money. I would soon pay off your pathetic Home account, and off to FNB !
Sarah! You’re a counter revolutionary (according to Mike)! An agent nog al. You must be so……Wow!
I too want to be a counter revolutionary. Problem is, I can’t count. Luckily where I live there are only a handful of revolutionaries, so I can handle that, but if I were to count them on a larger scale, I’d be in trouble….
You’re so lucky!
I like the way that retribution comes in a round about way. So, ASA continues to support Chuene despite his mismanagement of the Caster Semenye affair. Well, we are pals together, unaccountable and inviolate, but when Chuene’s actions lose ASA one of their big corporate sponsors, Nedbank, you think ASA support for him would wane. Doesn’t seem to have happened, but perhaps it is still coming.
I also guess that it will be difficult for ASA to get big corporate sponsors in future after this.
It would seem that some of the guys in high positions, for instance in ASA, are very naive about the way that the real world works. And while some corporates (like Nestle) seem to resist lobby groups because it means they will lose profit share, a bank like Nedbank takes a stand because it means they will save money and their reputation. How cool is that?
I would close my account if I was banking with Nedbank. I will be assisting the ANCYL on a mobilisation programme to encourage the youth to close their accounts with Nedbank.
I feel deep in my blood that if the goldists were white there would have being more talk to solve problems.
Re: Vodacom boycott, COSATU were bitter about who benefitted financially from what was a legal and legitimate business transaction.
Malema does not seem to grasp the simple fact that companies associate themselves with brands that are free of controversy, credible and enhance the sponsors’ image.
Chuene not only lied and misled the nation but he knowingly sent an athlete to compete in an event he knew very well was probably was not eligible to compete in which amounts to cheating and the result was Caster’s gender became an international focal point.
Given Nedbank’s unhappiness with ASA’s organisation of some road running events at the time it was only logical that they cancelled their sponsorship, no self-respecting company would want to associate itself with an organisation of liars, cheats and incompetents. The fact that Nedbank continues to be associated with various road running clubs and continue being involved with road running inspite of ASA vindicates them from half-baked, ill-informed attacks from an intellectually challenged Malema.
Give me a worthy cause whose basis are sound and outcomes noble and measurable and I’ll gladly sign-up irrespective of the personal cost but don’t expect me to join a misguided, ill-conceived circus show just because I am black or belong to the same organisation as you. There are many intelligent, articulate and capable members of the ANCYL and the ANC out there who are just as disillusioned by Malema as the rest of the country is.
Dear Mr Malema, just to notify you (and everybody else out there) that I am withdrawing my sponsorship of ASA with immediate effect.
Fruit and Veg Stall
(the new one on the cnr)
Ps. your basket of fruit (no coconuts) will be delivered to the boot of your car this pm. Discreetly.
Very shrewd, Messrs Nedbank.
Do Youth League members still eat Nando’s? Thought so.
It is quite clear from some of the responses of above readers, that they still suffer from tunnel vision on the playground slide. The way to the top is not via the obvious downhill playground slide of the ANCYL. So if you are so educated and emancipated to believe in Julius Bangbroek Grootbek Malema then Rock on. The trouble with socialism is that you eventually run out of other peoples money. So dream on.
ST
Are you serious? Nandos saga was resolved amicably.
Steve
You are still to understand the full might of the ANCYL. We will be helping the youth to out of Nedbank to join Capitec Bank.
I think people don’t know how seriously we take Julius Malema. I think you should wait for surprises that will be coming your way soon. I am waiting for the day when ANCYL will reach a deadlock with Nedbank and an announcement is made for black people to take their monies from Nedbank.
Only a few with huge debts will remain with Nedbank.
Nhlanhla Nyembe: you give me hope!
Sometimes in the recent past, you guys in the media predicted the demise of President Zuma & the NEGATIVE impact he brings to the ANC, particularly during general election, declaring that the people would not vote for the ANC and that Zuma belongs to jail, what happened thereafter is something that I know you would not like remember
I see your attitude towards Julius, no matter how insane we may all think he is, will make your life in South Africa misarable as some of us have to learn not to take him for granted – so better keep your academic opinions to yourself as they always miss reality
@Dithabanana,
Ooh! The might of the ANCYL! Bet Nedbank are shaking in their shoes.
If you think the ANCYL are powerful, just wait until you see the power of big capital.
Dithabana, pumkins are on special today.
Great article.
I wish more corporate sponsors were like Nedbank and withdrew their sponsorship of maladministered & corrupt sports associations. ABSA and SA Soccer are a case in point. They chose to bribe the officials and thhe national soccer team still won’t be able to hold their own against a team of schoolboys from Northern Namibia.
Malema should have just closed his account and stop canvassing white opinion by making empty threats.
Next step was to get his comrades to follow suit. He has a huge following among the black youth and young adults.
Third step if its successful: to deny vehemently that it has anything to do with Caster Semenya.(That’s how the white world operates anyway!)
Now , the Apartheid mentality is so entrenched even in Juluis that he reminds me of the black boxer in the seventies, who was fighting a white opponent, he kept on saying: “Baas, can I beat you now? Baas, please dont fall on me now, Baas!”
Democracy is about rights and entitlement to one’s opinions and the expectation that you may be opposed. Malema must carry out his threat and then we will take it up from there!
“We will be helping the youth to out of Nedbank to join Capitec Bank.”
So who owns Capitec and what do they do for athletics? Personally, I think it’s a great idea. Their charges are very low and there seems no reason not to save some money whilst making one’s point. Might I suggest that you open one extra account at Capitec when you’ve done that and pop all the change you save into it. There are a fair number of YL members; you’ll be able to pay Caster in no time and maybe have some left over to sponsor a marathon or something.
doesnt the ancyl own shares in another bank? or is it shareholder of oldmutual/nedcor? and what happened to the money from Lembede Investments?
Hi
To all those who are supporting Nedbank over the ASA affair- you are are being hoodwinked. Compare Cheune with Mugabe. Who would you rather support?
Nedbank is investing, via another company,in Zimbabwe.That seems to contradict their position.So I ask myself : What is the real reason behind the ASA move?
Ps I initially supported Nedbank in the ASA matter
I think the press should organise a boycott against Mr Malema, because without the press he is just another nothing. How does he get his position, if elected the ANC youth must be of a very low level intellectually.
@Johannes
I think the press should organise a boycott against Mr Malema, because without the press he is just another nothing.
Could nopt agree more with you. The other day I read a headline “Malema says Santana should be replaced”
Maybe he is right, maybe he is wrong. But how is his opinion on such a matter relevant? Why shoudl it be shared with the nation? How is this news? And why does the media publish such irrelevant drivel?