ConCourt closes the door on Sekunjalo
The Constitutional Court yesterday ruled that an attempt by Iqbal Surve's Sekunjalo Group to appeal the dismissal of its racism case against Nedbank – which it used to block the closure of its accounts – has ‘no reasonable prospects of success’.
It was reported that nine judges said the court has considered the application for leave to appeal and ‘concluded that the application should be dismissed with costs as it bears no reasonable prospects of success’.
Sekunjalo attempted to appeal a unanimous SCA finding that there was no prima facie evidence that Nedbank's decision to close the group's accounts was racist, according to News24.
The decision means there is no legal barrier blocking Nedbank from closing the group's accounts.
Writing on behalf of the court, then-Acting SCA Judge Raylene Keightley found that Surve's accusations that fraud or corruption-implicated companies such as Steinhoff, EOH and Tongaat Hulett did not have their accounts closed by Nedbank because they were ‘white-dominated businesses’ were unsupported by any evidence about who owned and led those companies.
The SCA then overturned the Western Cape Equality Court interdict that had blocked Nedbank from closing the Sekunjalo Group's accounts.
In arguments that were accepted by the SCA, Nedbank stressed that its decision to part ways with Sekunjalo was driven by real concerns about the Mpati Commission's adverse findings against the Sekunjalo Group and Surve, which were the result of an in-depth investigation into the Public Investment Corporation (PIC).
The PIC, which manages the pensions of SA civil servants, invested R4.3bn in the Survé-linked tech group AYO in late 2017, ahead of the group's listing on the JSE.
Soon after, the shares lost almost 90% of their value.
The Daily Maverick reports that former SCA President Lex Mpati's inquiry found that the PIC's investment in Sekunjalo Group companies showed a ‘marked disregard for PIC policy and standard operating procedures’, and demonstrated ‘malfeasance’.
The PIC was advised to conduct a forensic review of its transactions with the Sekunjalo Group and reportedly launched legal action to recover its investment.
Article disclaimer: While we have made every effort to ensure the accuracy of this article, it is not intended to provide final legal advice as facts and situations will differ from case to case, and therefore specific legal advice should be sought with a lawyer.
