Pepkor Holdings and former Tekkie Town executives continue to fight for control of the branded footwear, apparel and accessories retailer, with no end in sight just yet. Photo: File
DURBAN - PEPKOR Holdings and former Tekkie Town executives continue to fight for control of the branded footwear, apparel and accessories retailer, with no end in sight just yet.
This week both parties claimed victories after the Western Cape High Court ruled on Wednesday that it could not find whether Pepkor Holdings and Pepkor Speciality had “actual knowledge of the misrepresentations or reckless conduct” by Steinhoff International when the troubled retailer acquired Tekkie Town shares from the former executives in 2016.
Pepkor Holdings is a Steinhoff subsidiary and it was listed separately on JSE in September 2017 as Steinhoff Africa Retail.
Judge Lee Bozalek said in a 26-page ruling that there wascroom for former Tekkie Town executives to amend the particulars of their claim.
“The plaintiffs are afforded a period of 20 days from the date of this order within which to amend their particulars of claim, failing which the plaintiffs’ claim against the third, fourth and fifth defendants are dismissed with costs, including the costs of two counsel,” Bozalek said.
The battle between the parties dates back to 2016 when the former Tekkie Town shareholders exchanged their shares for 43 million shares in Steinhoff, valued at R3.3 billion at the time. But the implosion of Steinhoff in December 2017 on an accounting scandal meant the value of the shares suffered and this led to the former Tekkie Town shareholders claiming they were misled by Steinhoff and its former chief executive, Markus Jooste.
Former Tekkie Town chief executive Bernard Mostert, who is one of the plaintiffs, said
Bozalek ruled that Tekkie Town claimants had 20 days to amend their restitution and unjustified enrichment claim against Pepkor and its subsidiaries.
“You can view this whole journey from many angles and come to many conclusions. It looks like there is a great hope in the belly of both Steinhoff and Pepkor that as time passes all will be forgotten and claimants will be kicked to the curb with a settlement of cents in the rand.
“We have never entertained a financial settlement and we know how important it is that justice eventually prevails, no matter how long it takes,” Mostert said.
Pepkor responded and accused the former executives of sharing “a scurrilous and inaccurate communication” regarding the latest court ruling in the matter of Tekkie Town.
“Please treat the communication with extreme caution as it has been written to deliberately muddy the facts,” the group said.
The group said Bozalek ruled in its favour and upheld all three exceptions which Pepkor raised against AJVH’s claim.
“The ruling states that the ex-owners of Tekkie Town failed to make out a factual or legal basis for their case against Pepkor,” the group said.
“Pepkor is a separate legal entity and as such, can’t be held accountable for the alleged irregularities that happened at Steinhoff.”
This group said this was the fifth consecutive case that it has won, and in all instances, was dismissed with costs and said it will continue to follow the legal process.
sandile.mchunu@inl.co.za
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