National
Controversial former African Bank exec dies─── 11:53 Sun, 01 Feb 2015
Johannesburg - Controversial former head of risk at African Bank, Tami Sokutu, has died at his home in Cape Town at the age of 53 after a short illness, the Sunday Times reported.
Sokutu, made headlines last year for his "f*** the poor" remark in the wake of the bank being taken over by the SA Reserve Bank, in August 2014, largely from bad debt.
He was quoted in the Sunday Times at the time, as repeating: "F*** them, f*** them," in relation to people who had obtained loans but could not afford to repay them.
At the time, Sokutu bragged about personal wealth, which included three homes in South Africa, one in Portugal and a fleet of luxury cars.
He was reported to have made more than R50 million in share options and R35 million in salary and bonuses when he left the bank in February last year.
The banker was born in the village of Mqanduli, near Mthatha. He studied at the University of Cape Town, earning a master's degree in advanced plant systematics in 1992. He completed senior executive programmes at Wits Business School and Harvard.
Sokutu joined African Bank in 2002 and was appointed to the board a year later.
Sapa
