Legal Articles and Guides

One of the business rescue practitioners dealing with the Gupta assets, Bouwer van Niekerk, has reportedly told the Mail & Guardian that one of the biggest problems they faced was the eviction of occupants in Gupta houses, one of them being Tshepiso Magashule, son of ANC secretary-general Ace Magashule.

Brian Shivambu – brother of Floyd Shivambu, the EFF’s second-in-command – was dealt another blow by the Gauteng High Court (Johannesburg) yesterday when he was ordered to pay for the legal costs of VBS Mutual Bank’s liquidators.

The latest chapter in Moneyweb’s long-running ‘follow-the-money investigation’ into the Picvest saga is published in detail on the website today, notes Legalbrief. It focuses on the sale of 31 Orthotouch properties to the Accelerate Property Fund in 2013, which it says marked the crescendo of the fire-sale of properties in the aftermath of the collapse of the Highveld Syndication (HS) schemes.

An urgent application for a mandatory interdict forcing the City of Johannesburg to reconnect the water supply to the Sandton Gautrain Station has been halted by the Gauteng High Court (Johannesburg), says a News24 report.

The Gauteng High Court (Johannesburg) will hear today from the liquidators of VBS Mutual Bank who are attempting to recover more than R4.2m owed by Brian Shivambu's company Sgameka, and to have it liquidated.

Lawyer Tumi Mokwena, who has acted for EFF leader Julius Malema, faces an application for the liquidation of his law firm, says a News24 report. The application was brought by businessman Sithembiso Bethuel Bosch, who is also a former ally of Malema.

CEO of Vele Investments and former VBS Mutual Bank COO Robert Madzonga has instructed his lawyers to appeal against a final sequestration order.

The Gauteng High Court (Pretoria) has dismissed an application by the Gupta family's Oakbay Investments to have the business rescue practitioners removed from Tegeta Exploration and Resources. Judge Sulet Potterill on Friday ordered Oakbay to carry the costs, BusinessLIVE reports.

Brian Shivambu, in his personal capacity, must pay back R1.78m owed to VBS Mutual Bank, the Gauteng High Court (Johannesburg) has found, according to a Daily Maverick report.

In a report that purports to expose what it terms the 'dark underbelly of the business rescue industry', Moneyweb says a recent Section 417 investigation – an inquiry aimed at discovering whether assets were stripped or looted – into the events leading up to the liquidation of the Benoni-based crane supplier, Harrison and White Investments (H&W), has revealed the extent to which business rescue proceedings can be abused to the detriment of creditors.

The final two directors of VBS Mutual Bank have been finally sequestrated, Netwerk24 reports. Liquidator Anoosh Rooplal announced that the Gauteng High Court (Johannesburg) dismissed the challenges of former operations head Robert Madzonga, former chief executive Andile Ramavhunga, and his wife Zanele, to their provisional sequestrations.

The SABC’s board of directors could be declared delinquent as the embattled public broadcaster is trading under insolvent circumstances. Its falling revenues mean it cannot service its debt of almost R2bn.

SA’s notorious Afro4000 trains are going on auction as ‘bargains’, but it is unlikely taxpayers will see much of the money wasted by Prasa from the liquidation of Swifambo Rail Leasing, according to Rapport.

Tegeta Exploration and Resources has withdrawn its application to liquidate the Gupta family’s Oakbay Investments, the business rescue practitioners confirmed on Friday, according to Business Day.

The Gauteng High Court (Pretoria) heard arguments yesterday in a case between Gupta-owned companies, in which Oakbay – the family's holding company – is seeking an order to have Tegeta Exploration and Resources' business rescue practitioners removed.