Another dismissal for luckless Moyo
• Supreme Court of Appeal rejects the former CEO’s bid to appeal against a decision by the high court throwing out his R250m damages claim against Old Mutual
The Supreme Court of Appeal has dismissed with costs an application for leave to appeal by former Old Mutual CEO Peter Moyo against a high court decision that saw his R250m damages claim against his former employer thrown out. The application was dismissed “on the grounds there is no reasonable prospect of success in an appeal”, the appeal court said.
The Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) has dismissed with costs an application for leave to appeal by former Old Mutual CEO Peter Moyo against a high court decision that saw his R250m damages claim against his former employer thrown out.
“The application for leave to appeal is dismissed with costs on the grounds there is no reasonable prospect of success in an appeal and there is no other compelling reason an appeal should be heard,” the SCA said in a ruling dated November 14.
Old Mutual succeeded in having Moyo’s damages claim thrown out in January after months of legal wrangling after the court agreed with its argument that there was no evidence it had done anything wrong.
The court also absolved the insurer of Moyo’s contractual and delictual claims against it and certain directors, including former finance minister Trevor Manuel.
Moyo applied for leave to appeal against that decision, only for the high court to dismiss his application, which it said had no reasonable prospect of success, prompting him to take the matter to the SCA.
During that appeal application hearing, Moyo abandoned his claim for R20m in damages for alleged violations to his dignity. Instead, he persisted only with his claim for R230m in damages arising from the termination of his employment as CEO of Old Mutual in June 2019.
Old Mutual first suspended and then later dismissed Moyo due to an apparent conflict of interest related to NMT Capital, the investment firm Moyo helped found and in which Old Mutual had invested.
Moyo, who also had a direct shareholding in NMT Capital, chaired a meeting of the firm about a year after his appointment as Old Mutual CEO in which it was decided to pay R105m in ordinary dividends to shareholders.
That resulted in Moyo and his partners sharing R84m, even though NMT owed Old Mutual about R65.4m in preference share dividends at the time. As the name implies, holders of preference shares are entitled to dividends before ordinary shareholders.
“This situation first arose because the former CEO violated the terms of his employment contract by placing his private financial interests ahead of the company,” Old Mutual said in an emailed statement.
“The board engaged Mr Moyo for months about this matter.
However, it became clear that he and the board had a difference of opinion about his transgressions and how to resolve them.
“Following the exchange of various correspondence and a meeting where Mr Moyo was given yet another chance to address the situation, the board, on the basis of legal advice, reached the difficult conclusion that his continued employment was untenable.”
Moyo’s latest court loss against Old Mutual is separate to the consolidated delinquency and contempt application he launched against various Old Mutual directors. That application was dismissed with costs in favour of Old Mutual on May 16 by a full bench of the high court, with Moyo not yet having applied for leave to appeal against that judgment.
IT BECAME CLEAR THAT HE AND THE BOARD HAD A DIFFERENCE OF OPINION ABOUT HIS TRANSGRESSIONS
Old Mutual Moyo’s former employer