By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Almost 16 months since Old Mutual appointed Iain Williamson CEO and sought to end an acrimonious legal battle with his predecessor Peter Moyo, the saga continues.
Old Mutual fired Moyo in June 2019, after suspending him for alleged conflict of interest due to his involvement with a financial services company that he helped found in the early 2000s.
The legal battle between him and the company dragged on until March 2020. But his attempts to challenge his dismissal were thwarted when Old Mutual won the case in January 2020 after appealing earlier court judgments ordering it to reinstate Moyo as CEO.
Almost two years after their last face-off, Moyo was back in court on Wednesday.
The Johannesburg High Court was initially scheduled to hear his contempt of court application in November last year. He had also applied to the court to have all Old Mutual directors who sat on the board at the time of his axing declared delinquent.
Moyo’s legal team, namely Advocate Dali Mpofu and Advocate Tembeka Ngcukaitobi, told the court that Old Mutual’s refusal to allow Moyo back into his office after the court ruled that he should be temporarily reinstated deserved punishment comparable to what was meted out to former President Jacob Zuma.
Mpofu told the court on Wednesday that there should not be one set of rules for people like Zuma and another one for company directors like Old Mutual board chair Trevor Manuel.
He pointed out that in Zuma’s case, the Constitutional Court was very clear that the sentence for contempt of court should send a message that court rulings need to be respected.
He said the contempt of court on the part of Old Mutual directors was even worse than Zuma’s because there were “multiple and serial” counts of non-compliance followed by disrespectful remarks by Manuel about Judge Brian Mashile, who ordered Moyo’s temporary reinstatement.
Manuel publicly apologised for the remarks he made in a press conference where he said it would be unfortunate if an individual who happens to wear a robe overturned a full board’s decision.
Mpofu said if the court found that Old Mutual and its directors were guilty of contempt, then the argument for declaring the board members delinquent directors was as good as done.
Old Mutual’s lawyers will respond to the contempt of court accusations and Manuel’s remarks about Judge Brian Mashile in detail on Thursday.Wim Trengove, who is representing Old Mutual’s directors, said they would show that the directors were not guilty of contempt of court on any count.