Legal Articles and Guides

A forensic investigation has revealed about R80m said to have been illegally invested in VBS Mutual Bank by rogue officials at the state-owned Community Schemes Ombud Service (CSOS) was actually deposited into an FNB corporate cheque account belonging to the now-insolvent bank, says a Mail & Guardian report.

Having to write off bad debt is one thing – having to pay in even more money for the privilege is just adding insult to injury. Yet that is exactly the danger you face if one of your debtors is sequestrated or liquidated (we start off by explaining the different terminology) and you prove your claim without considering the “danger of contribution”.

Absa has been accused by an exotic car dealership of trying to bully it into liquidation with claims that it owes it more than R400m, says a Business Day report. The owners of Ballito-based SMD Group – which sells Ferraris, Porsches and Lamborghinis – dispute the amount and said Absa had ignored an offer from a private equity firm to buy the company for almost R200m.

In an application a Fin24 report suggests could ultimately lead to the collapse of the Gupta empire, business practitioners for a Gupta linked-company are accusing another Gupta-linked company of fabricating a ‘management agreement’ in court to avoid being liquidated.

Civil rights organisation AfriForum says it may have to have Julius Malema and the EFF declared bankrupt in an attempt to recover legal costs that they owe the organisation, notes a TimesLIVE report. The organisation said that according to its estimates, it was still owed more than R400 000 by Malema and the EFF but that the sheriff of the court had found assets to the value of only R66 550 in the EFF’s head office in Johannesburg on 9 November.

The liquidation of VBS Mutual Bank will allow criminal and civil proceedings against those responsible for its demise to pick up pace, and will allow for the recovery of money from those who looted or owed the bank, says a Business Day report. The Gauteng High Court (Pretoria) yesterday granted an order for the liquidation of VBS after an application by the SA Reserve Bank's Prudential Authority was unopposed by respondents, which includes the bank and the Minister of Finance.

The Prudential Authority (PA), formerly known as the Registrar of Banks, has filed court papers seeking the liquidation of VBS Mutual Bank. In a press statement issued yesterday, the PA confirmed it had filed the application with the Gauteng High Court (Pretoria).

The longer it takes to conclude litigation against Steinhoff by shareholders, the less chance there is that shareholders will be able to recover any losses. A Fin24 report says this is according to attorney Alexander Reus of international law firm DRRT. Reus and other representatives of the International Steinhoff Litigation Group briefed Steinhoff investors on the progress of the SA opt-out class action, which was filed in the Gauteng High Court (Johannesburg) in August 2018.

If you are owed maintenance you have a variety of enforcement options open to you and should ask your lawyer for advice on which is the best for your particular claim and circumstances.

The first municipality to lose millions in the VBS Mutual Bank scandal has launched an application to liquidate the bank, Beeld reports. The Mahikeng Local Municipality in North West has applied to the Limpopo High Court for the liquidation. Acting municipal manager Jacob Molamu says in court papers that a business rescue of the bank is simply not an option.

The business rescue practitioner for the Gupta’s embattled Shiva mine, which holds one of the largest uranium deposits in the world, has submitted an urgent application to the Competition Tribunal seeking the removal of two other practitioners he claims were unlawfully appointed. In the affidavit, notes Business Day, rescue practitioner Christopher Monyela sought an order to direct the Companies and Intellectual Property Commission (CIPC) to accept a form he filed on behalf of the company which appointed Juanito Damons as a senior practitioner of Shiva.

The financial affairs of the ANC Youth League (ANCYL) took centre stage at the KZN High Court (Durban) on Friday during a matter involving the ANCYL and the civic organisation, Active Citizens Movement (ACM), says a Sunday Tribune report. The ACM brought an application in April last year to prevent the Youth League from disrupting a memorial service it had organised for ANC stalwart Ahmed Kathrada. Despite an order being in place, the memorial descended into chaos with speakers being booed.

Steinhoff International Holdings NV’s former CEO Markus Jooste advised friends to sell the retailer’s shares days before the stock collapsed, according to a mobile phone text message reportedly seen by Bloomberg. The message, sent on or about 30 November 2017 to at least two people, told recipients there was unspecified bad news coming, notes the Bloomberg report in Business Day.

In November 2016, the Gauteng High Court (Pretoria) rejected an application from the SA Property Owners’ Association to amend the Companies Act to give landlords preference over other creditors in business rescue proceedings. Now, says a Financial Mail report, the first substantial amendments to the Companies Act since it was implemented in 2011 – released for comment at the end of September – include a proposal that would give landlords the very rights that were strongly rejected by the High Court.

Swiss-based company Charles King SA’s sole director Amin Al-Zarooni has launched an urgent application in the Gauteng High Court (Pretoria) to stop business rescue practitioners from selling Gupta-owned Optimum and Koornfontein mines. He also wants to stop them from selling any of Tegeta’s assets, notes a Fin24 report.