The effects of civil unrest in July are still being felt by many businesses such as FNB which has been working hard to restore branches and ATMs in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng.
To that end, FNB says it has managed to restore 80 percent of its branches in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal which were affected by the July unrest. As for ATMs, only 70 percent of those that were decommissioned for repairs or restoration have been restored.
Unfortunately, the pace at which restoration is taking place is slow given that many of the areas where FNB branches and ATMs were located require other repairs.
“In some areas, we rely on the reconstruction of malls or shopping complexes before restoring our bricks-and-mortar branches. We are, however, working closely with all stakeholders where this may be the case. Currently, we have temporary mobile branches at KwaMashu (Bridge City), Dalton, Edendale, Umzinto, Esikhawini and Esikhaleni Plaza in KwaZulu-Natal as well as Orange Farm (Eyethu) in Gauteng. Our aim is to ensure that communities can still access our in-branch services as we continue rebuilding some of the infrastructure,” says chief executive officer of FNB Points of Presence, Lee-Anne van Zyl.
FNB says that it has deployed staff from closed branches to the closest operational branch in order to help cope with the influx of customers.
“The better-than-expected momentum of our rebuilding efforts is due to strong collaboration between local communities, industry, landlords, vendors and our teams on the ground. In keeping with our holistic approach to helping society, we also allocated R21.5 million to support social relief programmes and humanitarian organisations to provide essential care and support to people, businesses, schools and greater communities in the affected areas. Furthermore, we commend efforts by the public sector and other civil society partners who continue to play their part in alleviating hardship in the affected communities,” said FNB chief executive officer, Jacques Celliers.
FNB has not provided a possible timeline for when all of its branches and ATMs in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng will be operational. In the meantime, we recommend FNB customers visit an alternate branch closest to them or make use of the bank’s myriad digital channels.
