‘Not a snowball’s chance’

Manuel denounces Moyo’s comeback attempts, questions high court ruling

● Old Mutual will not back down in its court battle with fired CEO Peter Moyo, board chair Trevor Manuel said on Friday.

Moyo’s suspension in May, his axing in June and the dizzying amount of court proceedings and legal filings since have dominated headlines and weighed on Old Mutual’s share price.

While the former finance minister has mostly stayed in the background, he came out swinging on Friday, calling Moyo’s court filings “replete with untruths”.

Moyo — fired, reinstated, then fired again — has accused Manuel of victimising him for blowing the whistle on certain alleged conflicts of interest.

Manuel and Old Mutual maintain that the chair’s dealings, whether related to legal fees or other business interests, were properly disclosed where necessary and that Moyo himself had signed off the financial statements at the time.

The life insurer is appealing a judgment by the Johannesburg high court in July that ordered it to temporarily reinstate Moyo after terminating his employment in June.

Old Mutual suspended Moyo in May, citing a breakdown in trust and confidence by the board in his handling of conflicts of interest — specifically in regard to the NMT Group and NMT Capital, in which both the former CEO and Old Mutual had stakes. The next month it fired him.

One of the major issues is NMT’s decision to pay dividends to ordinary shareholders, while it was still in arrears to Old Mutual — a preference shareholder that should have been in line first.

Moyo won the first round in court, but after judge Brian Mashile ordered Old Mutual to reinstate the former CEO, the life insurer again served him with notice of termination. He has not challenged the validity of the second termination and therefore cannot return to the office, according to Old Mutual.

Moyo has alleged in court documents that Manuel held the life insurer’s board under his sway and that his dismissal had come in reprisal for asking uncomfortable questions.

Manuel said that even if he stepped down as chair, which was not the plan, Moyo would still have to deal with the same board he has accused of not being able to think for themselves.

Moyo wants all members of the board to be declared delinquent directors.

“It can’t play out in any positive way” for Moyo, Manuel told Business Times after briefing reporters and employees.

Moyo knew he could not walk back into Old Mutual as CEO and that he did not have “a snowball’s chance in hell” of convincing a court to declare the board delinquent.

Manuel said Moyo seemed to be in a headlong endeavour to score short-term victories while destroying everything around him.

That judgment is so bad for company law Trevor Manuel

Old Mutual chair

Old Mutual has ruled out any settlement with Moyo and claims to have the support of major shareholders.

“We have massive letters from our shareholders [saying] ‘you can’t put money on the table for this thing’,” Manuel told the media conference earlier.

The insurer has paid Moyo only six months’ salary — some R4m — since giving him notice in terms of his contract.

“I don’t know what else he might expect, and I don’t know what is reasonable and rational for somebody who has worked for the company for two years,” Manuel said.

He said the board was unanimous in its approach to dealing with the former CEO.

Moyo’s lawyer Eric Mabuza responded on Friday, calling Manuel’s media conference “ill-advised”.

He said the statements were “noise and bluster and personal attacks” and that he would consult with his client after going through the full transcript.

Manuel told the media conference that the legal proceedings had to run their course and that Mashile’s ruling in favour of Moyo needed to be challenged, not only for Old Mutual’s sake but for the good of all companies in SA.

“That judgment is so bad for the company,

and for company law, that we have an interest in ensuring that it is overturned on appeal. That is not something we can walk away from,” Manuel said.

He said he saw it as Old Mutual’s responsibility to its stakeholders and to corporate SA as a whole. “That judgment creates a massive headache in the corporate governance space,” he said. — Additional reporting by Penelope Mashego