Case Law[2023] ZAGPPHC 492South Africa
Nepgen v Blake and Another [2023] ZAGPPHC 492; 52270/2015 (30 June 2023)
High Court of South Africa (Gauteng Division, Pretoria)
30 June 2023
Headnotes
of Mr Ivor Davkin, a chartered accountant and tax advisor. In the summary it was stated that Mr Davkin had been provided with voluminous documentation and information pertaining to amounts allegedly loaned to the partnership by the plaintiff, including payments made in respect of suretyship obligations and travel and accommodation expenses. The opinion of Mr Davkin was that, from these documents and information provided to him, he was able to calculate that the plaintiff had loaned to the partnership an amount of in excess of R 1.8 million. His report concluded that there was an amount due by Mr Landskron to Mr Nepgen in an amount of a little over R 1 million.
Judgment
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# South Africa: North Gauteng High Court, Pretoria
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## Nepgen v Blake and Another [2023] ZAGPPHC 492; 52270/2015 (30 June 2023)
Nepgen v Blake and Another [2023] ZAGPPHC 492; 52270/2015 (30 June 2023)
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sino date 30 June 2023
REPUBLIC OF SOUTH
AFRICA
IN THE HIGH COURT OF
SOUTH AFRICA
GAUTENG DIVISION,
PRETORIA
Case Number: 52270/2015
NOT REPORTABLE
NOT OF INTEREST TO OTHER
JUDGES
NOT REVISED
In
the matter between:
ANDRE
NICOLAAS NEPGEN
APPLICANT
and
GARY
BLAKE
FIRST
RESPONDENT
JOHN
GEORGE LANDSKRON
SECOND
RESPONDENT
ORDER
The application is
dismissed with costs.
JUDGMENT
Fisher J
Introduction
[1]
This
application is framed as a review under the Promotion of
Administrative Justice Act,
[1]
(PAJA) alternatively, the common law. The review is aimed at a
decision made by the first respondent pursuant to his appointment
as
an independent expert auditor for the purposes of determining the
quantum owing to the plaintiff on liquidation of a partnership
which
existed between the applicant and the second respondent, Messrs.
Nepgen and Landskron. The impugned decision came about as
a result of
an agreement entered into between these partners in the context of a
trial action which remains pending between them.
Material facts
[2]
The applicant, Mr Nepgen and the second
respondent, Mr Landskron are respectively plaintiff and defendant in
the action to which
this application relates. I will refer to them
interchangeably by their names or as plaintiff and defendant.
[3]
Messrs. Nepgen and Landskron were business
partners in the business of providing spare parts and related
services in the auto body
repair industry as a service to short term
insurers.
[4]
A facet of the business was the
incorporation of companies through which the partnership business
would be conducted for the profit
of the partnership. Both partners
would contribute to the provision of loan capital and other funds
needed to conduct the companies’
businesses and thus ultimately
that of the partnership. The partners made drawings from the
entities.
[5]
Ultimately, it was intended that there
would be an accounting in relation to amounts loaned and amounts
drawn by the partners respectively
in order to determine the
apportionment of share in profits.
[6]
As part of the partnership business, the
partners incorporated five companies, the businesses of which were
conducted for the benefit
of the partnership.
[7]
The plaintiff and defendant conducted the
partnership business together from 2005 to 2015. This partnership and
its dissolution
are the subject of the trial action.
[8]
The following was claimed in the action:
“
An
order of dissolution of the partnership, payment of an amount alleged
to be due on such dissolution in the amount of R 811 000
(rounded
off) together with interest and costs”.
[9]
Mr Landskron denied that there was a
partnership and argued that each of the companies should be viewed in
their own right.
[10]
At a pre-trial conference held in June 2016
it was agreed that the only issue to be decided on the merits was
whether a partnership
had come into existence. The merits and quantum
were thus separated in terms of rule 33(4).
[11]
After a trial on the merits at which both
parties testified, the court found in favour of the plaintiff’s
contention for a
partnership. There were attempts made by the
defendant to appeal this decision but these came to nought.
[12]
The parties set down the matter for a
determination of quantum before Davis J on 25 November 2019.
[13]
For the purposes of the trial, the
plaintiff filed an expert summary of Mr Ivor Davkin, a
chartered accountant and tax
advisor. In the summary it was stated
that Mr Davkin had been provided with voluminous documentation
and information pertaining
to amounts allegedly loaned to the
partnership by the plaintiff, including payments made in respect of
suretyship obligations and
travel and accommodation expenses. The
opinion of Mr Davkin was that, from these documents and information
provided to him, he
was able to calculate that the plaintiff had
loaned to the partnership an amount of in excess of R 1.8 million.
His report concluded
that there was an amount due by Mr Landskron to
Mr Nepgen in an amount of a little over R 1 million.
[14]
Mr Landskron did not file an expert
summary. It seems that the plan was to cross-examine Mr Davkin on his
own report.
[15]
On the first day of the hearing and at the
suggestion of the court that the quantum hearing may turn out to be
nothing more than
an accounting exercise, the parties entered into an
agreement which was made an order of court (the consent order).
[16]
The consent order reads as follows:
“
HAVING
HEARD COUNSEL ON BEHALF OF THE PARTIES AND BY AGREEMENT, THE
FOLLOWING ORDER IS MADE:
1.
The matter is postponed sine die, costs to
be in the cause.
2.
The Plaintiff shall provide an account of
the partnership business from inception of the partnership during
2005 to the date of
dissolution thereof, supported by vouchers (where
possible) to determine the amount that may be owing by one partner to
another;
3.
Plaintiff shall render the account in
paragraph 2 within 2 months from date hereof and such account shall
be reconciled by an auditor
of the Plaintiff's choice.
4.
The Defendant shall, within 2 months of
receipt of the Plaintiff's account (if so advised), provide the
Plaintiff with a similar
account drafted by an auditor.
5.
Should either the Plaintiff or the
Defendant fail to comply with the provisions of paragraph 2 or 4
above, such party shall be
ipso facto
barred.
6.
The auditors shall prepare a joint
report within 2 weeks after expiry of the date in paragraph 4 above,
wherein they shall set out
the issues that are in dispute and also
indicate if such dispute is of a legal, factual or an accounting
nature.
7.
The disputes so identified
that
are of an accounting nature
shall be
referred to a senior independent auditor to be agreed upon by the
parties and failing agreement (within 10 days) either
party may
request the Chairperson of the South African Institute of Chartered
Accountants to appoint the senior auditor.
8.
The senior auditor shall be obliged to hand
down his decision within one month of his appointment.
9.
The decision of the said senior auditor
shall be final and binding on the parties.
10.
In the event of a factual or legal
dispute arising, any party may approach the Deputy Judge President
with a request that the matter
be allocated a preferential trial date
the matter being part-heard before the Honourable Mr Justice Davis
.”
(Emphasis added).
[17]
In purported pursuance of the consent
order, a rudimentary report was filed by Mr Nepgen which set out
amounts paid to Mr Landskron.
These payments were supported by bank
statements.
[18]
In response to this report, Mr Landskron
filed a report by Mr Engelbrecht, also an auditor and tax consultant
who had been engaged
for the purposes of meeting the terms of the
consent order.
[19]
Mr Engelbrecht, in his report, expressed
that in order to determine the quantum – being what one partner
owed to the other,
he would need access to a complete set of
accounting records for all the entities run under the partnership as
well as other possible
business ventures. He opined that an accurate
account of the partnership could only be produced if access was given
to all relevant
documents such as cash books, bank statements and
journal entries together with supporting vouchers and EFT payment
advices “and
other relevant documentation in respect of all the
various transactions”.
[20]
He expressed the opinion that reliance by
Mr Davkin on incomplete accounting records, bank statements and
documents covering only
some of the companies involved had resulted
in an incomplete accounting record.
[21]
In conclusion, Mr Engelbrecht stated that
Mr Davkin’s account was “not an account of the
partnership business”.
He stated further that, in his opinion,
it could not be “regarded as an account contemplated in the
consent order”.
[22]
The report of Mr Engelbrecht is replete
with factual content and the recordal of factual disputes arising
from instructions given
to him by the defendant as to certain facts
and queries raised in relation to Mr Davkin’s account. The
report also bemoaned
the fact that there was much missing
documentation.
[23]
The report ended with a heading “Overall
conclusion” under which the following was stated:
“
44.
Mr Engelbrecht emphasizes that it is not
possible to prepare a proper and complete account of the partnership
business.
45. According to the
Defendant the plaintiff was in charge of the finances and the
accounting records for the various entities (companies).
Apparent
differences in the loan accounting of the partners should rather have
been discussed, clarified and where applicable, rectified
from time
to time during the tenure of the partnership. This was apparently not
done, and it is impossible from the available information
to
calculate what the difference(s) may amount to
.
46. Based on the
available information, it appears as if Mr Davkin’s account is
not a complete/accurate account of the partnership
business since
inception during 2005 to the date of dissolution thereof.”
[24]
Thus, in summary, at that stage a
rudimentary report of Mr Davkin had been filed by the plaintiff in
purported compliance with the
consent order. This report was filed
off the back of Mr Davkin’s expert summary filed in terms of
the rules of court. This
financial case was gainsaid by the report of
Mr Engelbrecht filed in purported compliance with the consent order.
[25]
The report of Mr Engelbrecht revealed in no
uncertain terms that an accounting as contemplated in the order was
not possible without
resort to further factual information and
further records.
[26]
The consent order contemplated that the
next step in the agreed process would be for a joint report to be
prepared by the two auditors.
The report was to set out the issues in
dispute and also indicate if the dispute was of a factual, legal or
accounting nature.
[27]
On 16 April 2021 and in the face of the
impasse which was evident from the report of Mr Davkin and the
response of Mr Engelbrecht,
Mr Landskron’s attorney, Ms L Da
Silva of Pennells Attorneys wrote to Mr Orelowitz, Mr Nepgen’s
attorney purporting
to invoke the consent order and specifically
paragraph 6 thereof which required the drafting of a joint report. It
was sought that
Mr Davkin draft a joint report and deliver it to Mr
Engelbrecht for his comments.
[28]
Purportedly to this end there ensued
numerous email communications between Mr Davkin and Mr Engelbrecht
referring to schedules and
attachments. These were positioned in the
papers haphazardly with running email chains being attached in no
particular order.
[29]
I asked at the hearing of the matter
on 18 April 2023 that I be provided with a chronological bundle of
documents. Regrettably,
this bundle was not forthcoming until
02 June 2023 and only after my office sent a reminder to the
applicant’s attorneys.
The bundle ultimately received it was
without pagination according to caselines or any other system of page
numbering. This has
unfortunately delayed the handing down of this
judgment.
[30]
The email correspondence between the two
accountants reveals that they decided to provide their “joint
report” in the
form of schedules which purported to summarise
the versions of each of their clients. It is immediately apparent
that these summaries
are based on the respective factual disputes
between the parties as to the figures on the schedules. As such they
are partially
if not entirely subjective.
[31]
On 07 May 2021 Mr Davkin wrote to Mr
Engelbrecht as follows:
“
Hi
Pieter I understand schedule 1 to detail what is claimed per A Nepgen
and the response to such claims by J Landskron.
What I don’t
understand is schedule 2 “summary of amounts/items dealt with
by the defendant and his expert” is
this meant to constitute a
counter claim?
Equally confusing is the
statements “other payments made by the plaintiff R 1 978
60”
I have also submitted
this schedule to Andre for his comments.”
[32]
Ultimately, no agreement could be
reached between the two auditors. On 11 May 2021 Mr Nepgen filed a
document drawn by Mr Davkin
which was named “the plaintiff’s
joint expert report” according to the filing sheet, but which
was headed the
“Plaintiff’s addendum to expert summary in
terms of rule 36(9)(b)”. I quote from this document directly
(and
verbatim) in that it conveys the woeful lack of any joint
agreement between the parties’ auditors:
“
7.
Given that the dispute and preparation of a joint report by the
auditors/accountants (“accountants”) of the parties
is
not capable of the meaningful resolution, this addendum is prepared
by the plaintiff’s suggested per-amble to a joint
report, the
reasons why such joint report cannot be prepared, and plaintiff’s
accountant’s response is set out below
ad
seriatim
:-
AD
para 1
,
Regard must be had to the Court of first instance (case no:
52270/2015 Molopa-Sethosa J), which Court decided on the merits of
this matter relating to the partnership agreement, and how it was
operated over the relevant period through the different, legal
entitles.
Copy
of said judgment is available on request.
Ad
para
2. It
is denied that the main point of dispute is whether a complete and
accurate account of the partnership from 2005 to date of
dissolution
of the partnership is required.
2.1
The court
order provides for an "account of the partnership! business"
to be prepared by the plaintiff, which statement
of account between
the partners, together with voluminous supporting documentation, has
been provided to the defendant.
2.2
The account
prepared by the plaintiff encompasses the statement of total
expenditure incurred by the plaintiff on behalf of the
partnership
business, and duly adjusted to reflect his 50% share of such
expenditure as expended on behalf of the partnership.
These
amounts comprised the different items to which the aforesaid loans or
payments on behalf of Vuzimix relate.
3
The
defendant's auditor/accountant contention and dispute that the
plaintiff's statement of account does not constitute an account
of
the partnership business, and that the defendant owes the plaintiff
R 1 050 923.00, is speculative and is therefore
rejected.
4.4.1
& 4.4.2 The defendant's auditor/accountant is put to the proof
that the plaintiff's statement of account neither constitutes:
"a
complete and accurate account" of the partnership business. No
proper reasons are given for his assertions in this
regard.
5
In my view, this dispute requires the intervention, and appropriate
decision, of a senior independent auditor to be agreed upon
by the
parties and falling such agreement an appointment made by the
Chairperson of the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants.
I categorize the dispute between the experts as an accounting
dispute.
6
refer
para 5 above.
7.
The plaintiff's statement of account in respect of expenditure
incurred on behalf of the partnership business and consequent
50/50
split and supported by relevant documentation is summarized as per
schedule 1. Schedule 2 provided by the defendant's auditor/accountant
is not supported by any documentation and is considered unfounded and
speculative.”
[33]
As if this were not confusing enough, on 18
May 2021, Mr Landskron filed a document headed “Defendant’s
joint expert
report”.
[34]
This report of Mr Engelbrecht purports to
set out what Mr Landskron contends should be in the joint report. It
seems to have escaped
the parties by this stage that a “joint
report” had to reflect agreement.
[35]
In this report the “main point of
dispute” is identified as “whether it is possible to
render an account of the
partnership business”.
[36]
The report goes on to state:
“
6.
Both the Plaintiff and the Defendant have raised further issues
(dealt with in paragraphs: 7 to 10 below) which will only become
relevant should the senior independent auditor determine that it is
indeed possible to render an account as
contemplated
by the Court.
7. The
issues raised by the Plaintiff are summarized in Schedule 1 attached
while the
issues raised by the Defendant
are summarized in Schedule 2 attached.
8. The
expert summery of the Plaintiff's auditor dated 31 January 2020
(together with
certain documents) as well
as the report/account of the Defendant's auditor dated 8 April 2021
(together with certain documents)
and which includes a response to
the
issues raised by the Plaintiff should
be regarded as an integral part of this joint report”.
[37]
The state of “agreement”
between the parties’ auditors at this stage can be summarized
as follows: Mr Davkin for
the plaintiff continued to assert that the
accounting which he had set out in his first expert summary and the
rudimentary report
which was thereafter purportedly issued in
accordance with the consent order reflected the true account of the
partnership; Mr Engelbrecht
for the defendant held fast to his
conviction that it was impossible to render an account as
contemplated in the consent order.
[38]
Thus, Mr Engelbrecht in his report
characterizes the dispute to be determined by the senior auditor
under the consent order as primarily
being whether it was possible to
render an account. Reference to schedules 1 and 2 are stated by Mr
Engelbrecht to be relevant
only should the senior auditor determine
that it is possible to render the account.
[39]
Thus, at this stage, the joint interaction
between the auditors had not actually resulted in any formulation of
any accounting dispute.
[40]
The factual issues raised by the respective
parties are said to be “summarised” in the schedules.
Reference to the schedules
reveals a distillation of factual disputes
which arose as to the contentions pertaining to the payments
reflected thereon.
[41]
Notwithstanding that the premises put
forward for the figures in the schedules were awash with factual
disputes and Mr Engelbrecht’s
starting premise being that it
was impossible to draw an account due to the lack of financial
records of the partnership, the parties
agreed that the consent order
be invoked on the basis that an independent senior auditor be
appointed by the Chairperson of the
South African Institute of
Chartered Accountants.
[42]
This resulted in the appointment of the
first respondent, Mr Gary Blake.
[43]
Apart from being subjective, the
schedules relied on are not a model of clarity. They use columns to
denote the monetary values
to be apportioned to projects, loans,
payments, salary shortfalls. One column reflects an amount which is
put forward in relation
to the particular item/category of income or
expenditure on the factual version of the one partner; the next
column shows the figure
attributed by the version of the other
partner and there is then a third column which purports to record the
differences in relation
to the respective versions.
[44]
It is immediately apparent when reference
is had to these schedules that the exercise which Mr Blake had been
called on to perform
is heavily fact dependant.
[45]
In sum, the dispute which was
characterized by Mr Davkin as an “accounting” dispute was
clearly not such a dispute whilst
Mr Engelbrecht was of the view that
an accounting was actually impossible.
[46]
Against this background, Mr Blake
commenced the fulfilment of his mandate by asking that both parties
provide him with all relevant
documents.
[47]
On 13 July 2021 the plaintiff’s
attorney sent an electronic
Google Drive
folder with what was said to be “all
the relevant information” from the plaintiff.
[48]
On 14 July 2021 the defendant’s
attorney sent an email to Mr Blake in which they expressed surprise
that a document prepared
after the “joint report” and
referred to as “submission 6 – Response to Landskron
Schedules received 09/04/2021”
– had been included in the
documents submitted by the plaintiff to Mr Blake. This document is at
the centre of the dispute.
I will refer to it as “document 6”.
[49]
The defendant’s attorneys indicated
that they did not want to obstruct the process by objecting to Mr
Blake receiving document
6, but that they would request the defendant
and his auditor to respond thereto.
[50]
On 29 July 2021 the defendant’s
attorney wrote an email to the plaintiff’s attorney listing the
documents in their Google
Drive Folder to be the following:
“
1.1
Index and Overview;
1.2
Auditors
Report – Mr. lvor Davkin;
1.3
Summarized
claim by Mr. Nepgen;
1.4
Claim
documentation by Mr. Nepgen;
1.5
Mr.Landskron's
response dated April 2021 as well as Mr. Pieter Engelbrecht's Report;
1.6
Mr.
Nepgen's response to Mr. Landskron's Report dated May 2021, including
the Joint Experts' Report;
1.7
Judgements;
1.8
Mr.
Landskron's Joint Report.”
[51]
It was recorded in such email that the
receipt by Mr Blake of the overview and the summary of Mr Nepgen’s
claim were objected
to by the defendant and should be ignored.
[52]
This notwithstanding, it was stated that,
due to the subjective nature of the materials which were sought to be
excluded, the defendant
had prepared its own overview which would be
submitted to Mr Blake. It was reiterated however that the defendant
was of the opinion
that both overviews should be disregarded by Mr
Blake.
[53]
It was further submitted by the defendant’s
attorney that Mr Blake “must make a ruling on the disputes
raised in the
Joint Report ...”.There were, however, no
disputes crystalised for determination.
[54]
Reference was also made to the fact that
the plaintiff’s
Google Drive
initially contained the submission 6 document but that this seemed
now to have been removed.
[55]
The defendants
Google
Drive Folder
included the defendant’s
response to the plaintiff’s overview indicated in red on the
same document and the defendant’s
account and schedules 1, 2
and 3.
[56]
On 08 September 2021 Mr Blake, having
reviewed all the documents save document 6, asked that the parties
confirm that there was
no objection to him opening the document and
having reference to its content.
[57]
The plaintiff’s attorney obviously
confirmed that he had no objection. The defendant’s attorney
indicated that it “strongly
objected” to Mr Blake having
reference to document 6. It was indicated by the defendant’s
attorney that the only
documents to which reference should be had
were the judgment on the merits, the plaintiff’s and the
defendant’s auditors
reports and the joint report of the
plaintiff’s and defendant’s auditors. I assume the latter
to be a reference to
the schedules referred to earlier. It was stated
that any other document had “nothing to do with accounting”.
[58]
On 08 September 2021 Mr Blake again asked
that both parties confirm that they had no objection to him having
reference to document
6.
[59]
After having received no response to this
request and on 15 September 2021, Mr Blake wrote to the parties
stating that he was drafting
his report and that it would be
available for release on 17 September 2021. Significantly, he
confirmed that the only information
being used for the determination
was the judgment, the plaintiff’s and the defendant’s
auditors reports and the “joint
report’’ of the
auditors.
[60]
There was no response from the plaintiff as
to this information from Mr Blake.
[61]
On 17 September 2021 Mr Blake revealed his
findings. The result was that the defendant was indebted to the
plaintiff in the amount
of R127 521 arising from the partnership
business.
[62]
The plaintiff is aggrieved by this finding
and thus brings this application for review. The defendant has
tendered payment of the
amount awarded.
[63]
It is not disputed that the nature of
document 6 is such that it contains further factual disputes and
argument in relation to the
figures provided in the schedules which,
as I have said, are themselves underpinned by factual disputes.
Ground for review and
defendant’s case in opposition
[64]
The
basis for the relief sought by the plaintiff is unclear. In the
founding affidavit, the plaintiff characterized the alleged
review as
being one under PAJA. In argument it was raised on behalf of
the plaintiff that it was a review at common law.
This position was
changed mid- argument to assert that the appointment of Mr Blake was
a statutory appointment in terms of section 38
of the Superior
Courts Act.
[2]
It was then
argued that it was also a review in terms of section 33(1) of the
Arbitration Act.
[3]
[65]
Thus, there was no final
identification of the nature of the process. It seems however, that
it can be discerned from this casting
about that the argument of the
plaintiff is that the function of Mr Blake was a quasi-judicial
one which entailed the determination
of disputes of fact. It is not
in dispute that if this were not the case the plaintiff would be out
of court as to this application.
[66]
The ground for the review advanced by the
plaintiff is that Mr Blake, in considering the matter and making the
award failed to take
the contents of a document containing factual
submissions and argument in relation to the accounts of the
partnership. It is on
this basis alone that it is contended that
proper hearing was not given to the applicant.
[67]
The remedy claimed by the plaintiff is that
the award of Mr Blake should be set aside and the matter remitted
back to him for reconsideration
on the basis that the contents of the
document is taken into account.
[68]
The defendant asserts that the court order
sets out the basis on which Mr Blake was required to determine the
dispute and that any
breach of the agreement should be determined in
terms of private law and be subject to the law of contract. Having
said this, it
was argued for the defendant that Mr Blake was
appointed as an expert valuer, and as such his was not a
quasi judicial function.
It is argued from a legal perspective
that, as long as a valuer arrived at his decision honestly and in
good faith the parties
were bound by it. The defendant argues that,
as it is conceded that Mr Blake acted honestly, and no case is made
out that he acted
in bad faith the application cannot succeed.
[69]
The case thus reduces to a question whether
the function of Mr Blake was quasi judicial in nature. If it was
not, the plaintiff
must fail.
What was the nature of
Mr Blakes appointment?
[70]
The defendant is correct in his point of
departure being that the dispute falls to be determined under the law
of contract. The
consent order is a private agreement between the
parties.
[71]
The plaintiff’s case is premised on
the submission that the consent order, properly construed, clothed Mr
Blake with quasi-judicial
powers. The case purportedly made out is
that Mr Blake was called upon by the order to act in a quasi-judicial
roll and determine
disputes of fact. On such a case it would make
sense that the factual content of document 6 would be relevant.
[72]
To the extent that this court is
called on to interpret the consent order (and I must point out that
this was not specifically addressed
on behalf of the plaintiff), the
starting point remains the words of the document, which are the
only relevant medium through
which the parties have expressed their
contractual intentions.
[73]
The
process of interpretation does not stop at a perceived literal
meaning of those words, but considers them in the light of all
relevant context, including the circumstances in which the document
came into being. Interpretation is no longer a process that
occurs in
stages but is one unitary exercise.
[4]
In
Novartis
SA (Pty) Ltd v Maphil Trading (Pty) Ltd
[5]
it was said that:
“
A
court must examine all the facts – the context – in order
to determine what the parties intended. And it must do that
whether
or not the words of the contract are ambiguous or lack clarity. Words
without context mean nothing.”
[74]
The agreement contained in the consent
order provides for the parties’ respective auditors to prepare
a joint report “wherein
they shall set out the issues that are
in dispute and also indicate if such dispute is of a legal, factual
or an accounting nature”.
[75]
In terms of paragraph 7 it is the
‘
The disputes so identified
that
are of an accounting nature
’ that
are to be referred to the senior auditor.
[76]
This is clear and unequivocal. Reference to
paragraph 10 of the consent order shows that in the event of factual
or legal disputes
arising these would be for the determination of the
court.
[77]
It is, to my mind, clear that was not
contemplated that the senior auditor would determine disputes of a
factual or legal nature.
This stands to reason. The consent order
came in the middle of a trial where the factual and legal disputes
were already before
the court.
Conclusion
[78]
Mr Blake was appointed to deal with
accounting disputes only. These disputes were to be formulated by the
parties’ respective
auditors. The disputes were however never
so formulated.
[79]
It is not in dispute that what was placed
before Mr Blake required the determination of factual disputes.
[80]
The determination of the disputes was
not in accordance with the consent order which contained the terms of
reference of Mr Blake.
[81]
He thus, arguably, acted ultra vires in
seeking to determine the factual disputes which underpinned the
schedules placed before
him by the respective auditors of the
parties.
[82]
Such a case is, however, not before
me and I must deal with the case as presented to me. The review
ground squarely raised is that
further factual matter should be
presented in the form of document 6. In fact, no factual information
was allowed to be taken into
account at all.
[83]
Thus, the review must fail.
Costs
[84]
Both parties have contributed to the
confusion which has reigned in relation to this matter. It should
have been clear to each of
them and their legal and financial
representatives that the issues at hand required factual
determinations. In the circumstances,
I am of the view that it is
proper that no order be made as to costs.
Order
In the circumstances I
make the following order:
The application is
dismissed.
D FISHER
JUDGE OF THE HIGH
COURT
JOHANNESBURG
Heard:
18 April 2023
Delivered:
30 June 2023
APPEARANCES:
For
the applicant:
Adv
JK BERLOWITZ
Instructed
by:
ORELOWITZ
INCORPORATED
For
the second respondent:
ADV
BC STOOP SC
Instructed
by:
PENNELLS
ATTORNEYS
[1]
3
of 2000.
[2]
10
of 2013.
[3]
42
of 1965.
[4]
Natal
Joint Municipal Pension Fund v Endumeni Municipality (
920/2010)
[2012] ZASCA 13
;
[2012] 2 All SA 262
(SCA);
2012 (4) SA 593
(SCA)
(16 March 2012).
[5]
Novartis
v Maphil
(20229/2014)
[2015] ZASCA 111
;
2016 (1) SA 518
(SCA);
[2015] 4 All
SA 417
(SCA) (3 September 2015) at para 28.
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