I get asked this question so many times. My answer is always the same. No!! Banks are not racist. The next question I get asked is then “how come they keep funding only white people and reject our proposals”.

Well, I will tell you…truth hurts, and this truth will hurt very much…but let me tell you truth now anyway.

I am going to tell you a real life situation that happened. This is not a hypothetical situation, it is not an example I made up to prove my point. NO!! This ACTUALLY happened.

We approved 2 transactions almost at the same time. Brick manufacturing plants. One in the Free State and One in Kzn. The one in the Free State was operated by a Black Male and the one in KZN owned by a white Male. I will give both of these Fundees names that are not real. Lets Call the black business owner Mr Ndlovu and the White Business own Mr Debruin.

Right!! After 6 months I went to KZN to find out how the plant is doing. I found Mr Debruin out in the yard, busy with the workers, feeling the texture of the mixture the make bricks with. His Khakhi clothes were dirty and his hands rough from all the brick handling. His wife welcomed me. She was in the office doing their books. The first thing I noticed in the Carport was that Toyota Tazz they drove when they came to apply for funding. The production was around a thousand bricks a day. He was already delivering bricks to a few customers.

A month later I visited the free state brick laying plant of Mr Ndlovu. Before I got to the reception area, I saw a brand new BMW M6, white, with burgundy seats. It was parked under the shaded carport branded with the name C.E.O. Well finally I went inside and I found the man. Wow!! The man had transformed. It was certainly not the same man that came to our offices a year ago… wow!! This man was now the king of BLING.

Expensive suit, shiny shoes; expensive watch. He was not too happy to see me. It took me a few minutes to understand why. You see, he had spent the money that was meant for working capital on unnecessary capex, (Capital expenditure). He had bought expensive arts on the wall, Apple Laptop, boardroom suite that could make our Sandton offices look like an informal settlement. He was now getting orders, large orders, but he could not fulfill them because he just had no working capital.

So, within 15 minutes talking to him, he asked me if he can come to ask for more funding. He was already in financial trouble, 7 months after his transaction was approved. When I asked him when can we expect repayment of the facility, the man stood up, pulled up his shirt, and pointed me a scar on his big belly. He said, I got this scar in exile.

Wait a minute. Sir, I am not coming for vitality points, no need to show me that belly, I just wanted to know when you are going to repay us. Struggle credentials are not mentioned in the repayment schedule.

So within a year, we had to close down his business. And so who do I find to run this business? You bet, I called Mr Debruin in KZN. I asked him, sir, don’t you need to expand into the Free State? He said it was a big decision and needed to discuss with the wife. After 2 days or so, he says they came up with a strategy to run both business in different provinces. Today..as I speak, the businesses are having a combined turnover of more than R200 million. He has long finished his debts. So tell me, when Mr Debruin asks for more business, and he wants to venture into Green Energy, will the funders say no?

Does it mean that banks are racist? Not at all. Banks are businesses. They want to fund entrepreneurs who they are sure that will return their capital back with interest. Banks are not charity institutions.

The case I have spoken about is just one of the many. I don’t know what is it about our people. The minute we get funds approved for business, the first thing we think of is .. a new car. Then you start remembering all the dangerous prayers you have been making at midnight.. “YOUR ENEMIES WILL BE ASHAMED.. THOSE THAT OVERLOOKED YOU, WILL FIND YOU OVERBOOKED”..HEHE!! That’s it. Then you give Mercedes Benz a call, and order the top of the range ML 63.

Now this is worse. After buying a ML 63 with business funds you go to church and give a “Testimony”. You stand up with a brand new suit and shiny shoes.., everyone can see that something “miraculous” has happened to you. Then you start to talk.

I thank the God of Pastor/ Prophet/ Major/ Apostle.. so and so. This God is too much!! Then people start clapping. I got a R5 million loan from the bank 3 weeks ago. When Jesus says yes, nobody can say no!! I have vowed to the God of Prophet that when I get this loan I will pay tithe because If it was not for Angel Gabriel, I would not have gotten the funding.

Then what do you do, you take R500 000 of the Bank’s money and you pay tithes. Hehe. There goes working capital out the window. R1,5 million for ML 63, out of the window. You are left with R3 million to start operations.

Let me tell you. It is ILLEGAL to utilise the funds you were given for a specific purpose for other things. When Absa gives you a loan, you cant pay first fruits, tithe, Gabriels’ offering.., no, that is not your money. Start a business, make money and out of your PROFITS, then you can pay tithe, first fruits and thank angel Grabriel.

Many of our business are failing, because we failed to apply the LAWS OF BUSINESS. Let me give you an example. Lets say I am a prayer warrior. I love to pray. I can pray till the whole village wakes up. Then one day I go up the mountain and start praying.. LET THERE BE ELECTRICITY.., I WANT ELECTRICITY, I can pray and fast for 40 day, there wont be any electricity.., because I did not follow the LAWS of Electricity.

Everything has a law. Law of Gravity. Everything that jumps up, must come down. We have a LAW of reproduction..every seed will produce after its own kind…birds can fly but you cant , because they have within them a law of flight and you don’t. So, business it’s the same.

When your business is failing, the first thing, instead of starting to apply basic fundamental laws, am I offering the right product, to the right market, is my business geographically located where It can maximize impact, no that’s not what we do. The business is not doing well, there is my black sister, goes get a loan R32 000 and off you go to Lagos, you come back with water and spray fire around your hair salon.

Had you done a little bit of market research you would have noticed that if you could have opened your business just a 3 blocks away, it would have made all the difference. But, no, it has to be witchcraft. Then when banks refuse to fund us we say they are racist, no they are not racist.

Knowledge is power. We are afraid of knowledge. We just want things to work out smoothly and miraculously without doing anything different from the next man. We would rather pay R7000 to consult a prophet to help boost our business than attend a R2500 course that could have taught us about how to reduce our overheads and maximize working capital.

There is a very popular hang out place in Tembisa. One guy was telling me, the reason why this place is so busy is because the owner is using Muthi. Well, I am sorry, My mind is not wired in a Muthi way, so I personally went to the place to see why it was successful. First of all, it is in a PERFECT spot, the busiest corner in Tembisa, Then their food is absolutely out of this world…the ambience is great. It is a very nice set up.

The owner does not have to use any muthi, she has a wonderful business model. Mzolis in Cape Town has a great business Model, he doesn’t need to spray holy water around his business. We need to change the way we think. We cannot just preach reformation in church and yet in our economic lives we are still superstitious, we are more interested in a “show off” lifestyle which does not reflect our economic reality.

A car is not really an asset. It depreciates the moment you drive from the showroom. What makes us want to live lives we cant afford, artificial lives, so we can be front seat in church., who told us we need to prove a point to “enemies”? It can definitely not be God.

I do not know when , perhaps from next month, I will start holding Monthly business seminars, just to impart real practical, tangible, applicable business knowledge. God’s people are not perishing from lack of prayer, no.., its lack of knowledge.

Practical knowledge, acquired knowledge. As long as we reject proper business principles, asking angel Gabriel for miracle money instead of effective cash flow management, we will go around telling people that funders are racists…

This article was taken from social media. Author not known.