Specialist bank and wealth manager Investec is keeping most of its physical offices closed as violence and looting grips SA, but remains fully operational and financially sound.
The group, whose services include life insurance and banking services for individuals and businesses, said staff were effectively working from home, with only premises necessary for critical operations open.
Investec said it was reaching out to clients directly and would do what it can to assist, particularly where businesses or jobs had been directly affected or faced the threat of disruption.
“Many of our clients have been direct victims of looting and violence over the past few days and all of us are understandably anxious about the impact on our communities and our country,” Investec group CEO Fani Titi and Investec Bank CEO Richard Wainwright said in a statement.
“We are also engaging with our community partners, government and representative industry bodies to support efforts to restore order and deliver essential services to the worst-affected areas,” Investec said.
The cost of violence and looting that has hit businesses and brought economic activity to a halt in parts of Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal is still being counted, while it has also severely disrupted supply chains and SA’s vaccine rollout.
“This is a rapidly evolving situation, and we’ll continue to adapt and respond to developments as they arise,” Investec said.
Correction: July 15 2021
An earlier version of this article incorrectly said Fani Titi and Richard Wainwright were joint CEOs, when they are CEOs of the Investec and Investec Bank respectively.
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