Sowetan :: First national bunkum
Sowetan :: First national bunkum
First national bunkum
Tuesday October 31, 2006 06:10 - (SA)
Themba Molefe
First National Bank has apologised to Ekurhuleni nursing sister Sibongile Mbatha, after threatening to take her to the cleaners for an outstanding balance of R885trillion on her credit card.
In a joint statement yesterday, FNB and its collecting attorneys, Groenewald Lubbe, blamed a “computer software error” for causing Mbatha’s woes.
Mbatha, 39, a nurse at Natalspruit Hospital, received a letter of demand for R885 520 440 132 026 – 10 times the US’s gross domestic product (GDP).
At current yearly GDP levels of about R4 trillion, it would take the South African economy more than 200 years to pay such a debt.
Barrett Whiteford, an FNB credit card spokesman, said the amount owed by Mbatha was actually “a couple of thousand, which was not much”.
He would not divulge the exact amount, saying it was “a customer’s personal matter”.
FNB said: “Both FNB and the attorneys convey their sincerest regret to the customer, and the law firm will work directly with her to see how her reported financial constraints could be used as a mitigating factor in arriving at an amicable settlement of her debt.”
FNB said it had sought legal action against Mbatha because it was standard procedure
“Unfortunately in Mbatha’s
instance, the last payment received was in November last year,” it said.
“Following numerous attempts to help to explore a debt management plan to suit her, the outstanding amount remained unrecovered.”
Mbatha, who earns only R10000 a month said: “You can imagine how shocked I was when I received the letter of demand for [so much money].”
She admitted that she started skipping payments last November when she began having financial problems.
First national bunkum
Tuesday October 31, 2006 06:10 - (SA)
Themba Molefe
First National Bank has apologised to Ekurhuleni nursing sister Sibongile Mbatha, after threatening to take her to the cleaners for an outstanding balance of R885trillion on her credit card.
In a joint statement yesterday, FNB and its collecting attorneys, Groenewald Lubbe, blamed a “computer software error” for causing Mbatha’s woes.
Mbatha, 39, a nurse at Natalspruit Hospital, received a letter of demand for R885 520 440 132 026 – 10 times the US’s gross domestic product (GDP).
At current yearly GDP levels of about R4 trillion, it would take the South African economy more than 200 years to pay such a debt.
Barrett Whiteford, an FNB credit card spokesman, said the amount owed by Mbatha was actually “a couple of thousand, which was not much”.
He would not divulge the exact amount, saying it was “a customer’s personal matter”.
FNB said: “Both FNB and the attorneys convey their sincerest regret to the customer, and the law firm will work directly with her to see how her reported financial constraints could be used as a mitigating factor in arriving at an amicable settlement of her debt.”
FNB said it had sought legal action against Mbatha because it was standard procedure
“Unfortunately in Mbatha’s
instance, the last payment received was in November last year,” it said.
“Following numerous attempts to help to explore a debt management plan to suit her, the outstanding amount remained unrecovered.”
Mbatha, who earns only R10000 a month said: “You can imagine how shocked I was when I received the letter of demand for [so much money].”
She admitted that she started skipping payments last November when she began having financial problems.
posted by sabata.mereeotlhe @ 1:11 AM
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