Being out of the primary news loop, as far as South African events go, does have a down side. It`s not that one is exposed to news of a less depressing nature in the UK - au contraire; there are enough muggings, heists, murders and even dismemberments this side of the Limpopo to keep any South African feeling right at home.
It`s a shame that despite everything the bank is doing right, it still gets lambasted for what its majority partner may have done wrong.
Basheera Khan, London correspondent, ITWeb
No, I`m talking more about a kind of delayed news dissemination, where one is more likely to hear about the woes of one`s bank through a concerned SMS than an impartial news feed.
It`s hard to describe the mix of emotions engendered by the news that Saambou was taken under curatorship. I imagine I felt what every Saambou customer did to greater or lesser degrees - a sickly mix of apprehension, nervous tension and constant subconscious worry until the matter could be clarified somewhat - and in the case of that 20Twenty customer whose wedding was scheduled for the weekend following the announcement, most probably utter and immediate panic.
Well, it`s been a week since the announcement, and while I`m not certain what other Saambou customers have been hearing from their customer service divisions, the message to 20Twenty customers from 20Twenty CEO Christo Davel reminded me why, even after all the negative sentiment surrounding Saambou, I still believe in my bank.
The communication published on the site thus far has been apologetic, informative, understanding, and even compassionate. Reading comments on the 20Twenty bulletin board, and the subsequent responses from the wired warriors (I still can`t get over that title), it`s clear that the bank`s managers have given their employees an adequate sense of direction in this time of crisis.
It`s a stunning display of yet another thing that 20Twenty has managed to pull off with aplomb - good PR in the middle of an extremely messy business.
Hardboiled optimist
It`s a shame that despite everything the bank is doing right, it still gets lambasted for what its majority partner may have done wrong. It is a telling lesson of the industry when an online venture that is so popular and has achieved such success, should come under threat because its traditional brick-and-mortar backing starts seeing cracks in its foundations.
Of course, I am a hardboiled optimist under even the most damning set of circumstances, which probably aids my faith in this matter, but one look at the outpouring of support from numerous 20Twenty customers and it becomes clear that 20Twenty has until now been doing some things very right, and may yet weather the storm.
For the sake of its other customers, I really hope the rest of Saambou pulls through as well.
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