The SARB has settled part of its dispute with the Ibex group of companies, formerly Steinhoff, releasing R9bn to pay foreign creditors that the bank blocked in July.

A Business Day report says this comes after it reneged on its earlier approvals to allow the money to flow abroad.

But the SARB still intends to go back to court to challenge its own decision to approve the transactions on the grounds that the approvals should never have been granted and the (unnamed) bank official who granted them was wrong to do so.

Separately, the High Court has also allowed one of Steinhoff’s foreign creditors, Silver Point Capital, to intervene in the Ibex/Steinhoff application to review the SARB’s May 2023 decision to block a separate R6bn due to be paid to foreign creditors.

This is on the grounds that it was allegedly linked to historic Steinhoff exchange control contraventions.

The R6bn has since been forfeited to the state, despite the pending review application and, according to Steinhoff, in direct breach of an undertaking to provide Steinhoff with ‘reasonable prior notice’ of any forfeiture decision.

The SARB’s decisions to block these funds flowing out of SA raised market concern that it could deter foreign investors and bankers from lending to SA companies for fear the bank might arbitrarily stop them repatriating money to service their bank-approved loans.

The Business Day report says its plan to institute a self-review application to the courts to let it reverse its own foreign exchange approvals could well add to such concern.

The R9bn the SARB blocked in July – it has now agreed to release it – were proceeds of a sale by Ibex/Steinhoff of Pepkor shares that relied on the SARB’s 0433 exchange control approvals to meet obligations to foreign creditors.

The SARB was fully aware and approved of this, Ibex told the court when it launched an urgent application to halt the SARB’s decision to renege on approvals in July.

Judge Sulet Potterill granted the order, making the settlement agreement an order of court, and instructed the SARB to file an answering affidavit to the main case challenging its’s blocking order, as well as to file its own self-review application.

In the other case concerning the blocked and forfeited R6bn, she ruled against the bank, with costs, and supported the application to intervene by Silver Point Capital, which was supported by Ibex/Steinhoff.

The SARB had argued that only Ibex had the legal standing to challenge the blocking order over the R6bn forfeiture order but Potterill said this was absurd.

Full Business Day report