Bolstered by a Competition Commission finding that the banks that cut ties with the Sekunjalo Group had potentially violated competition law, Iqbal Survé and his companies have launched urgent legal action to force Nedbank to reopen their closed accounts, reports News24.

While the Competition Appeal Court had ruled Sekunjalo failed to make a prima facie case that Standard Bank, Access Bank and Mercantile Bank had committed a ‘prohibited practice’ by closing accounts belonging to its companies, the Competition Commission has now found that the banks that closed Sekunjalo's accounts were ‘prima facie’ involved in a ‘prohibited concerted practice’.

Despite requests from Nedbank's lawyers, it has yet to provide any indication of what evidence shows this.

Weeks before Nedbank was finally due to close Sekunjalo's accounts, after years of protracted and expensive litigation, however, Competition Commission cartels manager Makgale Mohlala asked the bank ‘to suspend the implementation of its decision to close Sekunjalo accounts pending the finalisation’ of its ‘prohibited concerted practice’ probe.

Nedbank's attorney, Aslam Moosajee, told Mohlala that the bank was ‘most surprised’ by this request.

‘It would be highly improper for the commission, as an administrative body tasked with independently fulfilling its mandate ... to reverse-engineer a theory of harm to fit a narrative advanced by Sekunjalo where there is absolutely no factual evidence whatsoever supporting such theory of harm,’ he said.

'For the avoidance of doubt, our client specifically denies that its decision to terminate or refuse to open bank accounts for Sekunjalo constitutes a prohibited concerted practice in terms of section 4(1)(a) of the Competition Act.’

In papers filed at the Competition Tribunal, Survé has made it clear that the findings against Nedbank and eight other banks by the Competition Commission are now the driving factor behind Sekunjalo's latest bid to compel the bank to reverse the closure of its accounts, notes News24.

‘The commission has now finalised its investigation and concluded that it has determined that the banks, including Nedbank, are engaged in prohibited conduct. (The Sekunjalo Group) were informed by the commission of its decision to refer the matter to the tribunal on Tuesday, 19 November 2024,’ he said. 

As a result, Sekunjalo wants the Competition Tribunal to order Nedbank to reopen all its accounts until the investigation into its alleged prohibited conduct is finalised. 

Nedbank is fiercely opposing that application and is adamant that ‘there is no substance to Sekunjalo's spurious allegations made in multiple fora in an attempt to keep Nedbank from following its processes (compelled by multiple laws and regulations) to close the Sekunjalo bank accounts’.

Sekunjalo's urgent application against Nedbank is due to be heard on 17 December 2024.

Full News24 report