The MEC for Department of Economic Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs, Mr Sihle Zikalala, has sent his heartfelt condolences to the family, friends and colleagues of the Group Chief Executive of Ithala Development Finance Corporation, Ms Yvonne Zwane, who passed away this weekend after battling with illness.

Ms Zwane joined Ithala in November 2011 and has been instrumental in driving the group’s turnaround strategy which has seen the institution receiving many accolades including clean audit outcomes over three successive years.

MEC Zikalala described Ms Zwane as a strategic thinker with a passion for development and clean governance. 

"I wish to extend my deepest sympathy and condolences to the family and colleagues of Ms Zwane. I had the privilege of working with Ms Zwane during her tenure as Group CEO. I have always appreciated and will forever be grateful for the support I have received from her in support of my current role as the MEC for Economic Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs. Her leadership and devotion to efficient corporate governance will surely be missed," added Zikalala.

Throughout her life and corporate career, Ms Zwane has selflessly served our nation with distinction. Before joining Ithala in 2011, Ms Zwane had worked for the First National Bank Public Sector Banking, where she held the position of CEO where she provided strategic direction for the sector in that organisation.

Under Ms Zwane’s leadership, Ithala has been upgraded into a state-of-the-art facility to accommodate customer needs. She passed on at the time when we were all hard at work to ensure that Ithala receives a full banking license which will enable the institution to compete with all other banks including managing government accounts. The first phase of the banking license application was submitted to the South African Reserve Bank in November 2016 and every effort is being made towards obtaining a full banking license. At the time of her passing we had worked to redirect the IDFC to concentrate more on driving the radical economic transformation agenda with the IDFC and Ithala bank providing funding solutions for various programmes including Operation Vula and the Radical Agrarian Socio-Economic Transformation (RASET) which we have recently launched.                                                                            

ISSUED BY THE KWAZULU-NATAL MINISTRY FOR ECONOMIC

DEVELOPMENT, TOURISM & ENVIRONMENTAL AFFAIRS

For more information contact BonganiTembe on 082 327 2600 or Siyabonga Maphumulo on 082 330 5132