Old Mutual, whose shareholders have lost about R17bn in value since the company first suspended former CEO Peter Moyo, said it may take years before it recovers from the reputational damage caused by the saga.

It also said that it was open to a settlement.

The parties were back in the Gauteng High Court (Johannesburg) yesterday, with the insurer reiterating that it had no trust in Moyo, which meant that a court ruling that he be reinstated was ‘impossible’ to implement and therefore should be overturned, notes legal writer Karyn Maughan in a Business Day report.

Moyo’s lawyers, in turn, accused the insurer of imposing a corporate ‘death sentence’ on him by accusing him of conflict of interest and then dismissing him without subjecting him to a disciplinary inquiry.

However, according to Fin24, Old Mutual has argued that the court did not consider the real reason why its axed Moyo when it ruled in July that he must return to lead the company.

Judge Brian Mashile instructed the company to reinstate him, saying his dismissal was illegal because he was not afforded a disciplinary hearing.

Old Mutual is appealing Mashile's ruling before a full Bench of three judges. Senior counsel Vincent Maleka, for Old Mutual, told the judges that while Mashile based his judgment on two reasons – misconduct and conflict of interest – Moyo had not been fired for these reasons.

‘The reason relied on by Old Mutual in suspending Moyo was the breakdown in the relationship between the board and Mr Moyo,’ said Maleka.

He said while Old Mutual did talk about Moyo's conflict of interest regarding the manner in which he handled payment of dividends by his private equity boutique, NMT Capital, neither his letter of suspension nor his letter of dismissal said he was fired for these reasons.

Full Fin24 report