********* conduct of Standard Bank

My wife was allocated shares as an employee by Standard Bank in the Tutuwa scheme. Subsequently she exercised an option in 2015 to pay the tax due and take transfer of the shares, which remained in the Tutuwa trust. In 2018 she was medically boarded and taken off the bank's system. There was no further communication received about the shares until 2 weeks ago when the Nimble Group called to advise that she had to make an urgent decision as to whether to sell or transfer her shares to a broker account. They advsied that they had been contracted to contact her since the bank had sent letters to her in 2021 and received no response. Upon investigation, it appears the letters were sent via email to her bank email address which had been closed when she was boarded in 2018. Information was provided which reflected shares forfeited and a balance that was substantially lower than the original allocation. The value of the balance of shares and tax payable were illustrated but no mention was made of the tax already paid. Nimble say they cannot explain the calculations and referred us to Share Incentives at the bank. An email was sent to the bank and all they provided on 25 Mar 2022 was a statement showing that shares had been sold to settle an unexplained debt to ICBC. Since then, attempts to call them have been in vain - the response says the number is unavailable at the moment and to call back later. Daily emails sent to the responsible person have not been responded to. Nimble continue to send threatening reminders that if no election is made by the closing date (which they have not confirmed) the entire share balance will be forfeited. Calls to their number provided are met with a response that the person dealing with the account is in Durban and the call cannot be transferred but a message will be sent to her to call us. Mysteriously, mails to my wife open by saying attempts have been made to call her but there is no record of such calls. Attempts to escalate the matter are met with the response that only Share Incentives can assist and we are given the same number that we have been trying. Now, with an indefinite closing date and no open line of communication to resolve the queries, it seems that the bank will go ahead and dispose of my wife's shares on the basis that she did not make an election - while the truth of the matter is that they are making it impossible to communicate with them. The shares were part of our retirement planning and it is absolutely disgraceful and ********* that Standard Bank can treat us in such a callous manner.