Cape Town - The Sekunjalo Group of Companies (Sekunjalo) has won itself breathing space in its ongoing battle with Standard Bank that threatened to close its accounts on August 21 following a decision of the Competition Appeal Court (CAC) in favour of the bank last month.
The respite follows the Sekunjalo Group’s confirmation that Standard Bank would keep the accounts of 30 of its companies that have accounts with the institution open, following an application to the Constitutional Court, for leave to appeal the CAC’s decision.
Because of this step in the litigation process, Standard Bank has agreed, for the time being to hold off on implementing its decision.
The postponement is until September 16, and is aligned with the extension of the Competition Tribunal interim relief ruling.
It is also contingent on the conclusion and outcome of an investigation being conducted by the Competition Commission into accusations of collusion and anti-competitive behaviour, brought by the wider Sekunjalo Group of Companies against the country’s major banks.
In a statement, Sekunjalo said: “It is important to note that the Competition Commission is still busy with this investigation, hence the interim relief order, the Tribunal granted in September 2022, has been extended, with the next due on September 16.
“For clarity, the Competition Tribunal found that there was a prima facie case that the banks had engaged in market dominance and anti-competitive behaviour.
“Further, the Tribunal found that having received and perused all the documents before it, there was no evidence of any wrongdoing by any of the Sekunjalo Group of Companies.
“Therefore, the action of the nine banks is arbitrary and without basis. Three of the banks involved in the Tribunal matter, however, took the Competition Tribunal’s ruling on appeal.
“On July 17, 2021, the CAC made the unusual and irregular decision to rule on an interim relief order, and notably, without the completion of the Competition Commission’s actual investigation.
“The CAC found that the Tribunal had erred because Sekunjalo had not, it said, provided the Tribunal with evidence of collusion to close its group accounts. The CAC also stated that Sekunjalo had not provided the Tribunal with all the requisite documents.
“As such, CAC found in favour of Standard Bank, Access Bank and Mercantile Bank, on a technicality.
“That this was done before the Competition Commission has completed its work, is, we feel, a desperate attempt to influence the Competition Commission. Standard Bank subsequently issued notice that it would close certain of the Sekunjalo-related bank accounts on 21 August, as the group had predicted.
“On Monday, August 7, 2023, the Sekunjalo Group filed an appeal with the Constitutional Court.
“This is a narrow application in terms of the competition matters and is separate from the Equality Court action Sekunjalo has brought against nine banks for discrimination and arbitrarily closing the group’s accounts.”
Standard Bank has meanwhile said that it will be opposing the appeal in the Constitutional Court but that its actions would be guided by its obligations under law and it will continue to respect court processes.
The bank’s statement said in part: “Standard Bank has noted the negative media sentiment advanced in certain media publications in response and strongly refutes the claims that Standard Bank does not support media freedom or has been motivated by political or other interests.
“Standard Bank fully supports and has always upheld the freedom of the press and the important role that media plays in society.”