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Iqbal Pressure. (Lerato Maduna/Fin24)
- In March 2020, the Mpati Commission released the results of its investigation into the Public Investment Corporation (PIC) and recommended that the PIC conduct a forensic investigation into its dealings with Iqbal Surve’s Sekunjalo Group.
- Those recommendations prompted a number of banks to close the group’s accounts, resulting in a torrent of legal action from Surve and his companies.
- Surve tried to challenge a unanimousSupreme Court of Appealjudgment that there was no evidential basis for his claims that Nedbank’s decision to close Sekunjalo’s accounts was racist. That appeal bid has now been dismissed.
The Constitutional Court has ruled that an attempt by Iqbal Surve’s Sekunjalo Group to appeal the dismissal of its racism case against Nedbank, which it used to block the closure of its accounts, has “no reasonable prospects of success” – and dismissed it with costs.
Sekunjalo attempted to appeal a Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) unanimous finding that there was no prima facie evidence that Nedbank’s decision to close the group’s accounts was racist. The Constitutional Court’s unanimous decision means there is no legal barrier blocking Nedbank from closing the group’s accounts.
Writing on behalf of the court, then-acting SCA Judge Raylene Keightley found that Surve’s accusations that fraud or corruption-implicated companies such as Steinhoff, EOH and Tongaat Hulett did not have their accounts closed by Nedbank because they were “white-dominated businesses” were unsupported by any evidence about who owned and led those companies. The SCA then overturned the Western Cape Equality Court interdict that had blocked Nedbank from closing the Sekunjalo Group’s accounts.
In arguments that were accepted by the SCA, Nedbank stressed that its decision to part ways with Sekunjalo was driven by real concerns about the Mpati Commission’s adverse findings against the Sekunjalo Group and Surve, which were the result of an in-depth investigation into the Public Investment Corporation (PIC).
The PIC, which manages the pensions of South African civil servants, invested R4.3 billion in the Survé-linked tech group AYO in late 2017, ahead of the group’s listing on the JSE. Soon after, the shares lost almost 90% of their value.
Former SCA president Lex Mpati’s inquiry found that the PIC’s investment in Sekunjalo Group companies showed a “marked disregard for PIC policy and standard operating procedures”, and demonstrated “malfeasance”. The PIC was advised to conduct a forensic review of its transactions with the Sekunjalo Group – and reportedly launched legal action to recover its investment.
This is a developing story.
