Legal Articles and Guides

A court application by a Gupta-linked company in Bermuda to secure R1bn from the estate of the Optimum Coal Mine has been rubbished as just another attempt to make the business rescue of various Gupta companies grind to a halt, says a City Press report.

Trevor Manuel is suing the EFF, its leader Julius Malema and its spokesperson Mbuyiseni Ndlozi after they alleged that he oversaw a ‘nepotistic’ and ‘corrupt’ process to appoint new SARS Commissioner Edward Kieswetter, reports Business Day.

The Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) has so far found no evidence of insider trading in Steinhoff shares before the retailer's meltdown on the JSE, but it still has a few trading accounts to check, reports BusinessLIVE.

Pepkor has taken note of the court papers filed by the founders and former owners of Tekkie Town and ‘will respond appropriately to defend its rights and interests’. According to a Fin24 report, the founders of Tekkie Town applied to the Western Cape High Court yesterday for an interdict to prevent Steinhoff, which owns Pepkor, from selling Tekkie Town.

SARS is pursuing the local operation of global cigarette giant British American Tobacco (BAT), claiming R143m for alleged tax fraud and evading excise duties, according to Business Times. The alleged contraventions, which BAT-SA denies, saw the company allegedly receiving undue rebates from SARS.

The battle over Growthpoint Properties black economic empowerment shares is heading to court, according to the Mail & Guardian. It notes Mlibo Mgudlwa, director of Africa Wide Investment Holdings, has approached the Gauteng High Court (Johannesburg) to compel business mogul Mzolisi Diliza to open the financial books of Miganu Investment Holdings.

Corruption Watch wants five former Eskom board members declared delinquent directors, says a Moneyweb report, noting the civil society group has applied to the Gauteng High Court (Pretoria) to prevent the five former directors from ever holding a directorship in a private company again, and for seven years in a state-owned company.

The appointment – announced late yesterday – of Edward Kieswetter as the new SARS Commissioner, with effect from 1 May, has already run into controversy, with the EFF, strong supporters of axed Commissioner Tom Moyane, threatening legal action.

The fraudster who made an unsuccessful court bid to save his R1.9m-a-year job as chairperson of Icasa has earned a judicial wigging, according to a Times Select report. Rubben Mohlaloga, a former deputy president of the ANC Youth League, went to the Western Cape High Court on 18 March in search of an interdict preventing the National Assembly from removing him the following day.

The continuing troubles at Eskom open the way for independent renewable energy to play a greater role in the energy mix, Jeff Radebe, told the eighth Africa Power roundtable yesterday, according to a Business Day report. ‘Given the crisis at Eskom, I foresee a larger role for renewables,’ he said in opening the two-day event, hosted by DLO Energy Resources.

The Progressive Professionals Forum (PPF) has called for the Special Investigating Unit to probe troubled global retailer Steinhoff International in light of the latest revelations of corruption, notes a Polity report. An investigative report by audit firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) found that a small group of former Steinhoff executives inflated the profit and asset values of the company for years by more than R100bn.

Judgment has been reserved on an interdict being sought by AYO Technology Solutions against the Companies and Intellectual Property Commission (CIPC), notes a Fin24 report. The matter was heard at the Gauteng High Court (Pretoria) on Wednesday, and judgment will be handed down on Monday, according to AYO spokesperson Sinazo Luse.

Last-minute interventions by Reserve Bank Governor Lesetja Kganyago and the Banking Association SA (Basa) succeeded in persuading parliamentary authorities to give the go-ahead for the processing of amendments to the Insolvency Act, which are regarded as vital for the stability of the financial system, says a Business Day report.

Lenders and the University of Stellenbosch’s Law Clinic, joined by Summit Financial Partners and a number of clients, are to lock horns in the Western Cape High Court in the middle of the year. A Moneyweb report says the case will decide what charges lenders are allowed to load onto the accounts of defaulting borrowers.

SA’s largest clothing retailer, Edcon, has secured R2.7bn in new funding to recapitalise the cash-strapped company. A Moneyweb report says the deal effectively means Edcon, which owns Edgars, Jet and CNA, won’t be closing its doors, thus staving off what labour unions claimed would have been the country’s biggest single jobs bloodbath.