17 AUGUST 2026

The African National Congress (ANC) Parliamentary Caucus has called for the immediate removal of DA MP and DA Federal Finance Chair Mark Burke from Parliament’s finance-related committees following serious allegations contained in a Reserve Bank affidavit concerning the business activities of Kastelo, a fintech company founded by Burke.

Parliament’s Finance Committee cannot credibly exercise oversight over the South African Reserve Bank while one of its members is facing serious allegations of misconduct that the Reserve Bank itself is investigating.

This is not a minor compliance dispute. The allegations raise fundamental questions about the integrity of South Africa’s financial system, the movement of capital across our borders and the possible circumvention of exchange-control regulations.

According to the Reserve Bank affidavit, investigators have identified a reasonable suspicion of exchange-control contraventions involving approximately R4 billion. The allegations include the use of third parties’ foreign investment and discretionary allowances to externalise funds, transactions allegedly conducted without clients’ knowledge or participation and alleged misrepresentation of Kastelo’s activities in compliance declarations submitted to the Reserve Bank.

Conduct of this nature would represent a serious assault on the very regulatory framework that Parliament’s finance committees are constitutionally required to oversee. The ANC Caucus is of the firm view that Members of Parliament should be held to a higher standard and should lead by example to maintain the confidence of the people in South Africa’s democratic system. Certainly, MP Burke’s association with this entity falls short of the standard expected of the Members of our Parliament.

The ANC Caucus therefore asks a simple question: How can an MP facing such serious allegations continue sitting on the very parliamentary structures responsible for scrutinising financial regulation and holding the Reserve Bank to account?

It is simply untenable. The Finance Committee must be a watchdog over South Africa’s financial architecture, not a place where individuals whose business affairs are under scrutiny for alleged violations of financial laws can exercise oversight over the institutions investigating such conduct.

There can be no credibility in Parliament demanding accountability from the Reserve Bank while simultaneously tolerating a glaring conflict of interest within its own oversight structures. The DA cannot preach accountability to South Africans while practising a completely different standard when one of its senior leaders is implicated in allegations of this magnitude.

While MP Burke is entitled to defend himself and Kastelo is entitled to challenge the allegations, the Reserve Bank must be allowed to complete its investigation without interference.

Equally, Parliament is also entitled and indeed obliged to protect the integrity of its oversight work. For this reason, the ANC Parliamentary Caucus calls on the DA to immediately remove Mr Burke from the Standing Committee on Appropriations and his alternative membership of the Standing Committee on Finance, pending the conclusion of the relevant investigations.

We further call on the relevant parliamentary authorities to urgently examine whether his continued participation in finance-related oversight is consistent with Parliament’s ethical obligations and public-interest responsibilities.

The Reserve Bank must be protected.

Parliament’s oversight authority must be protected. Most importantly, the integrity of South Africa’s financial system must be protected.

ISSUED BY THE AFRICAN NATIONAL CONGRESS PARLIAMENTARY CAUCUS

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