Story audio is generated using AI
DA leader Geordin Hill-Lewis has thrown his support behind the party’s federal finance chair, Mark Burke, as the Reserve Bank investigates his fintech company over about R4bn in transactions that allegedly circumvent exchange control rules.
Burke, one of the DA’s donors, is at the centre of a legal battle between Kastelo, the company he founded, and the South African Reserve Bank after the central bank moved to freeze some of its funds held with Access Bank.
Business Day reported on Monday that the Reserve Bank alleges Kastelo misrepresented its business activities to authorities in an attempt to circumvent South Africa’s exchange-control regime.
An affidavit by Reserve Bank investigator André Malherbe alleges that Kastelo’s business model was based on “conjecture and speculation” and raised concerns about the systematic use of third parties’ foreign investment and single discretionary allowances to externalise funds, the Business Day report stated.
The central bank alleges that about R4bn was externalised through Kastelo’s business dealings before a blocking order was issued in November.
At the heart of the investigation is the Reserve Bank’s suspicion that third parties’ allowances were used to externalise funds for Kastelo’s benefit, conduct that would be unlawful if proven.
Kastelo has denied the allegations.
Despite the seriousness of the allegations, Hill-Lewis has made it clear that the DA is standing by Burke while the investigation runs its course.
“Mark Burke is no longer the chairperson of Kastelo and is not involved in the company’s day-to-day operations,” Hill-Lewis told Sunday Times.
He said no allegations of wrongdoing had been made against Burke personally and that the latest action known to the DA related to the lawfulness of the Reserve Bank’s blocking order.
Hill-Lewis said the DA respected the independence of the Reserve Bank and the courts and would allow the regulatory process to run its course.
“Should a court produce findings against any DA public representative, the party will take action where necessary without fear or favour,” he said.
Burke, who was elected earlier this year as the party’s federal finance chair, succeeding Dion George, sits on parliament’s finance-related structures and has donated more than R400,000 to the DA in recent financial years.
Party declarations to the IEC show Burke donated just over R230,000 to the DA in the 2025/26 financial year and R105,000 in 2023/24.
Should a court produce findings against any DA public representative, the party will take action where necessary without fear or favour.
— DA leader Geordin Hill-Lewis
That dual role as senior DA finance official and party donor is likely to intensify scrutiny of Hill-Lewis’s decision to close ranks around him.
Two DA insiders said they did not expect the party to take action against Burke while the Reserve Bank investigation was ongoing, particularly with the local government elections approaching.
One insider said Burke’s position and his financial support for the party made it unlikely that the issue would trigger immediate action.
The second described Burke as an increasingly important figure in the DA, but acknowledged that the latest controversy was another headache for Hill-Lewis.
The DA leader has faced a baptism of fire since taking over the party, with internal tensions and controversies involving senior figures threatening to overshadow his efforts to establish his leadership ahead of the elections.
The Burke controversy comes after the fallout involving former DA leader John Steenhuisen and veteran party figure Tony Leon, whose company Resolve Communications has faced scrutiny over its relationship with the party and access to senior DA figures.
Political analyst Ntsikelelo Breakfast said the Reserve Bank investigation should be allowed to run its course, but warned that the political damage could begin long before any final finding.
“Politics is about optics and perceptions,” Breakfast said.
He said the Burke controversy, following the scrutiny around Leon and Resolve, risked reinforcing perceptions that senior DA figures were benefiting from their proximity to political power.
The ANC has now piled pressure on Hill-Lewis, calling for Burke’s immediate removal from parliament’s finance-related committees pending the outcome of the investigations.
The ANC parliamentary caucus said parliament could not credibly oversee the Reserve Bank while Burke remained part of structures responsible for financial oversight.
It said the allegations raised fundamental questions about the integrity of South Africa’s financial system, the movement of capital across its borders and possible circumvention of exchange-control regulations.
The caucus called on the DA to remove Burke from the Standing Committee on Appropriations and his alternative membership of the Standing Committee on Finance while the investigations continue.
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.