Justice Lex Mpati is flanked by assistant commissioners Gill Marcus and Emmanuel Lediga at the Commission of Inquiry into the Public Investment Corporation. Karen Sandison African News Agency.
The Black Business Chamber said it has welcomed the decision by the Sekunjalo Group and its chairperson Dr. Iqbal Survé to take the Mpati Report on Judicial Review.
This comes after the Sekunjalo Group and related entities have approached the Western Cape High Court to formally take the Mpati Commission report under review and ultimately have it set aside, the group chairman said on Monday.
In an interview with SAfm, Sekunjalo chairman Dr Iqbal Survé said that Sekunjalo’s detractors had used the report against the group and its subsidiaries even though the commission had never proved any misconduct by Sekunjalo.
The Chamber said that it has always been the view of Black Business Chamber that Sekunjalo and its Chairperson Dr. Iqbal Survé are being targeted, by the system and powers that be for their refusal to tow the line, with a view to unfairly bulldoze them out from participation in the economic activities.
“If anything, to go by, the report by retired Judge Willem Heath on Mpati Report and the subsequent ruling by Equality Court that granted in favour of Sekunjalo and Dr. Survé interim interdict, has confirmed BBC’s long held view that Sekunjalo and its chairperson are being unfairly targeted by the system. It is disheartening to learn that of all the companies that were mentioned in the various news platforms, Mpati Commission and all the other commissions, it is only the bank accounts of Sekunjalo and its subsidiaries that are targeted for closure by these banks,” the chamber said in a statement on Thursday.
The chamber further said that it shows how the banks are misusing their position and misapplying court rulings that ruled in their favour to close bank accounts of clients when there is reputational damage.
“As Sekunjalo and Dr. Survé are heading to court for a review of Mpati Report, BBC hopes that this case will be handled by a levelheaded judge for there is a lot erroneous findings in that report as pointed out by Judge Heath. As a BBC, we have been following the conduct of certain judges who seem to follow a one-sided path when judging cases of certain individuals, ignoring the facts at hand. We can only hope that such judges as well will start to see the light as more and more people are starting to see through their conduct,” the Chamber’s statement concluded.
In its review application, Sekunjalo said the unlawful and unjustified actions of the Mpati Commission resulted in unnecessary reputational damage to the group due to the resulting defamatory media coverage. This then led to the unlawful search and seizure operation of the Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) against the applicants, and major banks unlawfully relying on the report to withdraw banking facilities from Sekunjalo-related entities and even individuals.
The Review application states: “Taken together, the defamatory media reports, the Mpati Commission and its report, the unlawful FSCA raid and the withdrawal of services by the banking community, show a clear campaign to shut down the Sekunjalo Group of companies. A vendetta of this scale and magnitude has only been seen once before in SA history – apartheid. The establishment seeks to silence Independent Media and destroy the Sekunjalo Group as they cannot control the Sekunjalo Group.
BUSINESS REPORT