Mr Tekkie executives are victorious again

MR TEKKIE executives have scored another legal victory in the ongoing saga involving the shareholders of the start-up retailer and Steinhoff International subsidiary Pepkor Holdings relating to the use of the Mr Tekkie trademark.

Mr Tekkie said yesterday that Pepkor’s interlocutory application to have certain affidavits and procedural steps taken in the Mr Tekkie trademark case declared as irregular steps was dismissed with costs by the Honourable Justice Siraj Desai.

Mr Tekkie executive and co-founder Bernard Mostert said they are grateful that the court dismissed Pepkor’s application and that it ordered Pepkor to pay their costs.

“We are fighting our cases with our own resources, while I guess it is fair to say that Pepkor is doing so with shareholders’ funds. It is of course peculiar that Pepkor has taken such a vindictive and aggressive approach towards us while they are ploughing ahead with a business in Tekkie Town that even on their own version was defrauded from its original owners,” Mostert said.

The interlocutory application was heard in the Western Cape High Court on June 3, but judgment was handed down yesterday. It is the second time that the court has ruled in favour of the former Tekkie Town executives against Pepkor.

In April the executives won the interdict application to restrain Steinhoff International and Pepkor from dealing with the shares of the Tekkie Town company or with Tekkie Town stores. Former Tekkie Town founder Braam van Huyssteen also wants the business to be returned to its original owners after he claimed that it was obtained illegally by Pepkor.

The Tekkie Town vendors launched their restitution claim to restore their ownership in Tekkie Town in May last year.

Mostert added that earlier this year they obtained an interdict against Steinhoff to prevent it from acting in any way in terms of its controlling share in Pepkor that will frustrate or block the return of the business to its rightful owners until after the main case had been heard.

While the court found the matter is yet to be resolved, the executives launched Mr Tekkie in August 2018.

“Since its launch, the fledgling business has fielded a barrage of legal attacks by Pepkor. To date Pepkor’s attempts have been futile and fruitless,” Mr Tekkie said.

Mr Tekkie has opened 24 stores since October last year.