Protesters marched to Cape Town's equality court to voice their frustration with South African banks, which they say are racist.

Their claims against banks such as Absa, FNB and Nedbank take place as the Sekunjalo Group is pursuing its case against eight South African banks who have frozen the group's accounts, after allegations of impropriety at the Public Investment Corporation (PIC) came to light during a commission of inquiry.

The report implicated former PIC CEO Dan Matjila, Sekunjalo Group's Iqbal Survé and others in the asset manager’s multibillion-rand deals.

“The continuous racial profiling that seeks to undermine nonracialism in this country,” says Bongikhaya Qhama, provincial chairperson of the South African National Civic Organisation (Sanco).

“The closure of the Sekunjalo bank account is one — but one — of many cases and it is not necessarily the owners who will be hit hard but families who are going to suffer,” he says.

More than 200 supporters of the Sekunjalo group gathered outside the Western Cape High Court to support the group against banks that have closed its accounts.

“It is very important for us as the ANC Youth League to be part of this march because it speaks to our struggle and the resolutions we adopted when we said that we want economic freedom in our lifetime,” said ANCYL national spokesperson Sizophila Mkhize.

Mkhize believes there is a need for a state-owned bank in SA that serves the black majority.

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