Case Law[2024] ZAGPJHC 692South Africa
Kesef Properties Pty Limited v Weinberg and Others (2021/26466) [2024] ZAGPJHC 692 (26 July 2024)
High Court of South Africa (Gauteng Division, Johannesburg)
26 July 2024
Headnotes
Kesef’s objections in part on 19 November 2020. Weinberg was then afforded an opportunity to amend his statement of claim.
Judgment
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## Kesef Properties Pty Limited v Weinberg and Others (2021/26466) [2024] ZAGPJHC 692 (26 July 2024)
Kesef Properties Pty Limited v Weinberg and Others (2021/26466) [2024] ZAGPJHC 692 (26 July 2024)
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sino date 26 July 2024
REPUBLIC
OF SOUTH AFRICA
IN
THE HIGH COURT OF SOUTH AFRICA
GAUTENG
LOCAL DIVISION, JOHANNESBURG
Case
Number: 2021/26466
1.
REPORTABLE: No
2.
OF INTEREST TO OTHER JUDGES: No
3.
REVISED: No
In
the matter between:
KESEF
PROPERTIES (PTY) LIMITED
Applicant
and
STEVE
WEINBERG
First
Respondent
THE
ARBITRATION OF SOUTHERN AFRICA
Second
Respondent
ADVOCATE
HENK LOUW N.O.
Third Respondent
JUDGMENT
C
BESTER AJ:
Introduction
[1]
The first
respondent (“
Weinberg
”)
brought arbitration proceedings under the auspices of the Arbitration
Foundation of Southern Africa (“
AFSA
”)
in two related matters. In the first, he claimed payment of monies
lent and advanced to Siyathembana Project Management
and Development
(Pty) Limited (“
Siyathembana
”)
and in the second, he sought the payment of monies lent and advanced
to the present applicant, Kesef Properties (Pty) Limited
(“
Kesef
”).
[2]
Kesef
and Siyathembana are related entities and in both instances, the
submission to arbitration was contained in a written loan
agreement.
The loan agreement concluded between Weinberg and Kesef was entered
into on 3 September 2015 and provided that any dispute
or difference
between the parties would be referred to arbitration under the
auspices of AFSA.
[3]
Following
Weinberg having referred the dispute to arbitration on 2 December
2019 as a result of Kesef’s failure to honour
its payment
obligations under the loan agreement, AFSA as the appointing and
administering authority contractually agreed upon
by the parties,
appointed the third respondent, Mr Henk Louw, a practising advocate
at the Johannesburg Society of Advocates, as
arbitrator on 9 March
2020.
[4]
Kesef brought
an application for the learned arbitrator to recuse himself early in
the proceedings. On 21 July 2020, he dismissed
the application with
costs. He reasoned that he lacked jurisdiction to decide the issue
and that the grounds in support of his
recusal appeared to him to be
speculative and without any factual basis.
[5]
The learned
arbitrator made his award in favour of Weinberg just over a year
later on 20 April 2021 on a default basis following
Kesef having
chosen to discontinue its participation in the arbitration
proceedings. The facts in the lead up to the publication
of the award
and Kesef’s election not to participate in the arbitration
proceedings are dealt with more fully below.
[6]
Kesef seeks to
have the award set aside in terms of section 33(1) of the Arbitration
Act 42 of 1965 (“
the
Arbitration Act
”)
on the basis that the learned arbitrator misconducted himself in the
discharge of this duties as arbitrator and committed a gross
irregularity in the conduct of the arbitration proceedings.
[7]
Kesef further
seeks that the counterapplication brought by Weinberg to enforce the
award be stayed pending the finalisation of an
action brought by
Kesef in terms of
section 3(1)
of the
Arbitration Act to
set aside
the arbitration proceedings as a consequence of what it considers to
have been Weinberg’s repudiation of the arbitration
agreement
(“
the
action proceedings
”).
The
Factual Background
[8]
Following
receipt of Weinberg’s statement of claim, Kesef delivered a
notice to remove cause of complaint on 3 September 2020
which alleged
that the statement of claim was excipialbe. Weinberg responded by
seeking to amend his statement of claim, to which
Kesef objected
which resulted in an interlocutory hearing at which the learned
arbitrator upheld Kesef’s objections in part
on 19 November
2020. Weinberg was then afforded an opportunity to amend his
statement of claim.
[9]
Weinberg
delivered an amended statement of claim on 4 January 2021 which was
followed by another exception at the instance of Kesef.
On 18
February 2021, the learned arbitrator dismissed the exception and
ordered Kesef to deliver its statement of defence within
seven days.
Kesef did not comply with this directive.
[10]
The learned
arbitrator then convened a pre-arbitration meeting on 2 March 2021
for the next day. At 11h45 on 3 March 2021, Mr Garratt,
who
represented Kesef, advised that he could not attend the meeting
because he had secured a consultation for his daughter with
a
physician. He also said that his client had instructed him to brief
counsel and that he was compiling a brief for delivery to
counsel
that day. He accordingly asked that the per-arbitration meeting be
re-scheduled and was not prepared to proceed with the
meeting. The
learned arbitrator agreed and concluded the meeting which advocate
Meyer attended on behalf of Weinberg on the basis
that “…
in the
absence of Mr Garratt and them being here, and it being a procedural
issue, we can’t do much today.”
[11]
The
pre-arbitration meeting was then scheduled for 4 March 2021 when Mr
Garratt appeared for Kesef. Weinberg was represented by
advocate
Meyer. After some exchange on the likely duration of the arbitration
proceedings, the learned arbitrator proposed hearing
dates of 20 to
24 April 2021 but the meeting stood down to get the input of Mr
Venter who had been appointed counsel for Kesef
on the previous day
with a view to determine his availability. In paragraph 3.3.2 of the
minute it was specifically recorded that
“
20
to 23 April 2021 was proposed by the parties with the input of adv
Venter being required on or before 10 March 2021
”.
[12]
On 10 March
2021, Mr Garratt sent a letter to the learned arbitrator notifying
him that Mr Venter was not available on the proposed
dates.
[13]
10 March 2021
was significant for another reason. On this date, Kesef delivered its
statement of defence and as appears therefrom,
Kesef raised a series
of special pleas, including prescription and that Weinberg had
repudiated the arbitration agreement between
1 June 2020 and 30 June
2020. It was alleged that Weinberg, or persons acting under his
command and/or authority: i) physically
assaulted Mr Stephen Zagey, a
director of Kesef; ii) demanded payment from him of the sum claimed
in the arbitration, failing which
Zagey and his wife would be
murdered; iii) complained that the arbitration proceedings were a
waste of Weiberg’s time.
[14]
Kesef further
pleaded that it dispatched a letter to Weinberg’s attorneys on
3 July 2020 recording that the conduct of Weinberg
constituted an
unequivocal intention to no longer be bound by the arbitration
agreement which Kesef accepted on the same day, resulting
in the
termination of the arbitration agreement. In an attempt to have
the issue litigated before this Court, Kesef issued
a summons out of
this Court on 11 January 2021 (“
the
action proceedings
”)
to have the arbitration agreement set aside on the basis of what it
considered to have been a repudiation of the arbitration
agreement as
a result of the conduct described in paragraph 13 above.
[15]
On 20 March
2021, advocate Venter, who appeared for Kesef, advised the learned
arbitrator that he was not available on 20 to 23
April 2021.
[16]
The learned
arbitrator then scheduled a further pre-arbitration meeting to be
conducted virtually for 25 March 2021 which was held
from 17h00 until
17h58. The minute of this meeting recorded that Mr Garratt and
advocate Venter elected to leave the meeting after
having made an
express election not to participate therein following a disagreement
with Weinberg’s team on the issue of
discovery. From the
minutes it also emerges that Kesef remained in default of its
obligations to make payment of its contribution
to AFSA of the
arbitrator’s fees. The meeting was adjourned until the
next day.
[17]
The
pre-arbitration meeting of 26 March 2021 lasted from 14h00 to 14h31.
Mr Garratt and Mr Kaplan from his office attended the meeting
together with advocate Venter on behalf of Kesef. Weinberg was
represented on both days by advocate Meyer and his instructing
attorney.
[18]
The issue of
Kesef’s non-payment again featured prominently as appears from
the minutes of the meeting. The learned arbitrator
advised that he
had followed up with the AFSA who confirmed that while Kesef had made
some payments, certain fees due to AFSA remained
outstanding.
[19]
Mr Garratt was
invited to respond and indicated the following:
a.
his client
reserved its rights due to what it considered to be the repudiation
of the arbitration agreement but would continue to
participate in the
arbitration proceedings to avoid a default award but would not pay
the AFSA fees because of “the client
being pulled into
proceedings in which the Claimant had repudiated the arbitration
agreement leaving the Defendant no choice but
to defend itself in the
arbitration proceedings…”;
b.
the action
proceedings were pending before the High Court with reference to
Weinberg’s repudiation of the arbitration agreement
and
required a Court’s decision.
[20]
The learned
arbitrator referred to certain provisions of the AFSA Rules and
authorities that he considered pertinent for Kesef to
consider and
which in the main, supported the proposition that it was not open to
Kesef to simply “opt out” of the
arbitration proceedings.
He also requested the parties to address him on the proposed hearing
dates which the minutes of the 4
March 2021 pre-arbitration meeting
recorded in paragraph 3.3.2 as 20 to 23 April 2021. Mr Garratt and Mr
Kaplan again elected to
leave the meeting after having expressed an
election to do so. Advocate Venter remained in the meeting until its
adjournment at
14h31, but not before he advised the learned
arbitrator that he was not available on the proposed dates. It is not
clear from the
record why Kesef could not engage new counsel,
particularly as advocate Venter had not yet been steeped in the
matter, having only
been recently appointed.
[21]
The learned
arbitrator issues a directive in terms of which he fixed the hearing
dates as 20 to 23 April 2021 and directed that
all expert summaries
be filed by no later than 12 April 2021 with an expert meeting to be
held on or before 15 April 2021 followed
by the delivery of a joint
expert minute no later than the close of business on 16 April 2021.
[22]
On 15 April
2021, Kesef’s legal representatives notified the learned
arbitrator that their client would not participate in
the arbitration
proceedings with Kesef having instructed Mr Garratt’s firm to
withdraw from the arbitration proceedings which
they did.
[23]
The
arbitration hearing commenced on 20 April 2021 with neither Kesef nor
its legal representatives requesting access to the hearing
on the MS
Teams platform, this despite the fact that the learned arbitrator
extended an invitation to them.
[24]
The hearing
proceeded in the absence of Kesef and after having heard counsel on
behalf of Weinberg and his evidence, the learned
arbitrator made an
award in terms of which he ordered Kesef to make payment to Weinberg
in the sum of R751 118.00 with interest
at the rate of 18.75% per
annum calculated from 17 November 2019 to date of full payment and
costs which included the costs occasioned
by the arbitration
proceedings.
Discussion
and Analysis
[25]
Kesef roots
its cause of action in
section 33(1)(a)
and (b) of the
Arbitration
Act on
the basis that the learned arbitrator is said to have
displayed irregular and biased conduct to the prejudice of Kesef and
which
resulted in the learned arbitrator committing several gross
irregularities in conducting the arbitration proceedings.
[26]
The crux of
the complaint is that the learned arbitrator:
“
showed
partiality to the first respondent and his legal representatives to
the detriment of the applicant and its legal representatives.”
[1]
[27]
With reference
to the facts, Kesef says in its head of argument that the learned
arbitrator’s conduct:
“
in
selecting a date for the hearing that was favourable to him and
Weinberg only is evidence in itself that he was being unfair
to the
one of the parties –– the applicant. It was this very
decision to conduct the arbitration on a date not suitable
to one of
the parties that resulted in the default judgment which is the
subject matter of this review.”
[2]
[28]
Reliance
was specifically placed on section 34 of the Constitution on the
basis that the right to be heard by an independent and
impartial
court or tribunal, as guaranteed by section 34, extends further than
just the ordinary courts and includes arbitral tribunals.
The
submission is wrong in law as it is settled law that section 34 does
not have direct application to private arbitration disputes.
[3]
[29]
While the
Constitutional Court in
Lufuno
left the
door open to the indirect application of section 34 through the prism
of section 39(2)
which
requires courts when interpreting statutes or developing the common
law or customary law to promote the “spirit, purport
and
objects” of the Constitution, no argument was presented to
suggest that
section 33
of the
Arbitration Act required
a particular
interpretation to give effect to
section 39(2)
read with
section 34
that would yield a different outcome in favour of Kesef.
[30]
Section
33(1)(a)
is concerned with arbitral misconduct, and it is has been
consistently held by our Courts that even a gross mistake of fact or
law on the part of the arbitrator is not misconduct as required in
terms of
section 33(1)(a)
with a Court not entitled to disturb an
arbitral award unless it finds the misconduct to have amounted to
something more in the
form of moral turpitude or
mala
fides
.
[4]
As
Retired Justice of Appeal Fritz Brand points out in his seminal
article on the topic, the threshold is a high one and it is not
any
kind of misstep that will trigger the application of
section
33(1)(a):
“
The
bottom line is therefore that
the
arbitrator must be guilty of some form of deliberate dishonesty and
that a
bona
fide
mistake, no matter how gross, will not suffice
.
Since reprehensible conduct of this kind on the part of arbitrators
is, fortunately, an incident of rare occurrence, reliance
on section
31(1)(a) of the Act has become exceptional in practice.”
[5]
(emphasis added)
[31]
I can find no
evidence to show that the learned arbitrator misconducted himself.
The record does not begin to hint at it. The
learned arbitrator
appeared to be mindful of the attempts of Kesef to derail the
arbitration proceedings and did no more than what
he was entitled to
in terms of Article 11 of the AFSA Rules, namely, to exercise the
wide discretion entrusted to him to ensure
the
just, expeditious, economical, and final determination of all the
disputes raised in the proceedings.
[32]
He
was therefore free to approach the matter as he deemed fit to ensure
the expeditious resolution of the dispute before him with
the parties
in electing to resolve their dispute by way of arbitration, having
chosen to forgo the strict formalism routinely association
with High
Court litigation.
[6]
[33]
He may have
appeared robust, but the papers do not suggest that he denied Kesef
any procedural or other advantage that it was entitled
to. The fact
that advocate Venter may not have been available for the arbitration
did not preclude Kesef from securing the services
of another counsel.
No explanation was proffered for why he was not briefed
earlier, and if not available, why the services
of another advocate
were not secured. There is no evidence that such an attempt was made
with Kesef having instead adopted the
approach as early as 11 January
2021 that it was not going to participate in the arbitration
proceedings when it commenced with
the action proceedings.
[34]
Section
33(1)(b) is concerned with the commission of a gross irregularity in
the conduct of the arbitration proceedings or where
the learned
arbitrator has exceeded his powers. The latter does not arise in the
instant proceedings which are instead confined
to whether the learned
arbitrator committed a gross irregularity. Yet again, the threshold
is not a light one and to fall within
the scope of the sub-section,
the irregularity complained of must have been of such a serious
nature that it denied the aggrieved
party the right to have its case
fully and fairly determined.
[7]
[35]
Examples
include a misunderstanding of the
audi
principle
or where the arbitrator declines to hear one party, but as was noted
in
Palabora
Copper (Pty) Ltd v Motlokwa Transport & Construction (Pty) Ltd
2018 (5)
SA 462
(SCA) at paragraph 8, the party alleging a gross irregularity
must establish it on the facts with the threshold not met if the
arbitrator simply errs on the facts or the law. Arbitral bias is one
instance that falls within the province of section 33(1)(b).
[36]
Kesef relies
on three instances of bias. These are: i) the learned arbitrator’s
failure to recuse himself after having also
been appointed and heard
the Siyathembana arbitration proceedings in terms of which he
published his award on 18 August 2020; ii)
his handling of the 3
April 2021 pre-arbitration meeting and; iii) the learned arbitrator’s
scheduling of the dates.
[37]
The first bias
complaint was developed on the basis that by sitting as arbitrator
for the Kesef arbitration after making findings
in the Siyathembana
arbitration, the learned arbitrator would have already heard, if not
ruled upon, the Siyathembana arbitration
and therein determined where
the facts may lie and formed views on issues that were germane to the
arbitration between Kesef and
Weinberg.
[38]
The point was
decisively addressed by Green AJ in
Weinberg
v Siyathembana Projects Management and Development (Pty) Limited
(Case No. 22984/2020
19 April 2024) in the context of an application to make the learned
arbitrator’s award in the Siyathembana
matter an order of this
Court and which resulted in Siyathembana launching a
counterapplication to review the award on the basis
that the learned
arbitrator was allegedly biased:
“
The
general bias and recusal points have their basis in another
arbitration between the Applicant another company called Kesef.
From
the papers it appears as though the Kesef arbitration too relates to
money that is alleged to be payable and where the same
arbitrator had
been appointed. There are common personalities between the Respondent
and Kesef. The recusal point is built on the
arbitrator having to
make assessments of credibility and truthfulness of the witness in
the Kesef matter, and then having to do
the same in the arbitration
against the Respondent. In this context the Respondent suggests that
the arbitrator ought to have recused
himself.
The
point of recusal is, in my view, misplaced. The arbitrator assumes
his position by virtue of a contractual appointment and it
is not for
him to recuse himself in the conventional sense. Instead, if a party
is of the view that an arbitrator is unable to
properly discharge his
functions, that party ought to approach the court for an order
removing the arbitrator in terms of section
13(2) of the Arbitration
Act. That was not done by the Respondent. What the Respondent did in
the Kesef matter was to apply to
the arbitrator for him to recuse
himself and he declined to do so. But no recusal application was
brought in the arbitration against
the Respondent.
Absent
more, there is no reason to doubt that the arbitrator acted
impartially and independent in the arbitration against the Respondent
and in the Kesef
arbitration.”
[8]
[39]
I respectfully
associate myself with these remarks.
[40]
The failure to
recuse himself did not suggest bias and the learned arbitrator
carefully considered his position and reasoned that
he did not have
the power to do so. The fact that he was also the appointed
arbitrator in the Siyathembana matter was known
to the parties and
the obvious remedy was for Kesef to launch an application under
section 13(2)(a)
of the
Arbitration Act to
set aside his appointment
in the Kesef matter if there were genuine misgivings.
[41]
Not only was
there disclosure of the fact that he was the appointed arbitrator in
the Siyathembana matter, but the facts do not
suggest a display of
any conduct that could not be described as impartial and independent.
The learned arbitrator is a practising
advocate and like a judge, he
would have taken an oath to behave honestly and faithfully in the
course of his professional careers.
[42]
By virtue of
his training, there is little doubt that there would have been
greater scope for impartiality when sitting as an arbitrator
than say
a lay person. I find no reason to doubt that he was able to set on
one side any irrelevant matter or pre-disposition that
he may have
had by virtue of having conducted the arbitration in the
Siyathembana-matter. There certainly was nothing before the
Court
that suggested a lack of impartiality.
[43]
As a second
arrow to its bow, Kesef made much of the interaction between the
learned arbitrator and advocate Meyer at the meeting
of 3 April 2021,
but it is clear from the transcript that the learned arbitrator was
not willing to continue in the absence of
Mr Garratt and his team. He
was careful in not treating the absence of Kesef’s lawyers as
an event of default and said that
he needed to give Kesef notice and
only if Kesef did not appear at the following meeting, could advocate
Meyer proceed on the basis
that Kesef was in default.
[44]
This suggests
a cautious approach that excludes any reasonable apprehension of
bias. On the contrary, it shows that the learned
arbitrator was
mindful of protecting the procedural rights of the absent party in
the face of Mr Meyer’s attempts to steam
ahead with the
process.
[45]
With reference
to the allocation of dates for the hearing, the learned arbitrator
proposed 20 to 24 April 2021 at the meeting of
4 March 2021. Mr
Garratt knew as early as 10 March 2021 that Mr Venter was not
available on these dates and advised the learned
arbitrator. Mr
Venter then also saw fit to write to the learned arbitrator on 21
March 2021 confirming his lack of availability
and then quite
unusually, for reasons that are not explained, requested the learned
arbitrator to recuse himself.
[46]
At the next
pre-arbitration meeting of 25 March 2021, the learned arbitrator
confirmed that there had been no directive yet in respect
of the date
for the hearing. Mr Venter confirmed that had been briefed on 3
March, but given his lack of availability, it begs
the question why
Kesef did not take steps to notify the learned arbitrator and
Weinberg of this fact as early as 5 March 2021.
It could easily have
instructed alternative counsel from 5 March 2021 onwards. The meeting
of 25 March 2021 was adjourned until
the next day, when Mr Venter
made submissions on the date for the hearing whereafter the learned
arbitrator ruled that the arbitration
would take place from 20 to 23
April 2021.
[47]
Kesef
therefore had almost a month to prepare for the arbitration and
during this time could have secured the services of new counsel,
particularly as it must have known from as early as 3 March 2021 when
advocate Venter says he was briefed that he would not be
available.
[48]
The reasons
for its failure to do so were not explained, but when assessed in the
context of the election to leave the pre-arbitration
meetings of 25
and 26 March 2021 coupled with the failure to appear at the
arbitration hearing to state its case, the only reasonable
conclusion
that one can come to is that Kesef had no desire to participate in
the arbitration proceedings which is best illustrated
by the launch
of the action proceedings.
[49]
The allocation
of the dates for the hearing was therefore not a manifestation of
bias by any means, but a function of the learned
arbitrator ensuring
that the arbitration was not derailed by a litigant desirous of
frustrating the finalisation of the dispute.
Mr Venter correctly
conceded in my view that the learned arbitrator had a discretion
under the AFSA Rules to set the matter down
in April 2021.
[50]
But
there is more, since even where the fine dividing line between
managing the proceedings efficiently and descending into the
arena
are occasionally overstepped, which certainly was not the case here,
it
does not mean that a recusal is justified.
[9]
[51]
I am therefore
not convinced that Kesef would have been denied the right to have its
case fully and fairly determined had it elected
to participate in the
arbitration proceedings. It chose not to do so in the furtherance of
its strategy to extricate itself from
the arbitration proceedings
first implemented when it issued summons against Weinberg on 11
January 2021. It must have appreciated
the risks associated with that
election.
[52]
It is not for
me to express any views on the merits of the summons in the action
proceedings, but insofar as Kesef seeks a stay
of the arbitration
proceedings pending the outcome of the action, the argument raised by
Kesef was that the enforcement of the
award could not take place in
isolation without assessing Weinberg’s repudiation of the
arbitration agreement which is a
triable issue in the action
proceedings. It relied on
Canton
Trading 17 (Pty) Ltd t/a Cube Architects v Fanti Bekker Hattingh NO
2022 (4)
SA 420
(SCA) in support of the proposition that a challenge to the
arbitration agreement itself required the Court to deal therewith.
[53]
The
judgment is of no assistance to Kesef as it can be distinguished on
the facts in
Canton
which concerned a
case where the appellant denied the
existence
of an agreement under which it could be compelled to participate in
an arbitration.
[54]
There
is no dispute that the parties entered into a valid arbitration
agreement, which I might add, renders subject to arbitration
under
the auspices of AFSA any dispute between the parties relating to or
arising out of the agreement including its validity,
implementation,
execution, interpretation, rectification, termination or cancelation
(see clause 11.1 of the loan agreement).
[55]
Whether
Weinberg repudiated the arbitration agreement was therefore an issue
within the remit of the learned arbitrator’s
jurisdiction and
it was not open to Kesef to simply “opt out” of the
process.
[56]
Lord
Hoffmann’s well-known
dictum
from his speech in the House of Lords in
Fiona
Trust & Holding Corp and Others v Privalov and Others
[2007] UKHL 40
;
[2007]
4 All ER 951
(HL) ([2007] UKHL 40), has been cited with approval in
South Africa and justifies repetition:
“
In
my opinion the construction of an arbitration clause should start
from the assumption that the parties, as rational businessmen,
are
likely to have intended any dispute arising out of the relationship
into which they have entered or purported to enter to be
decided by
the same tribunal.
The
clause should be construed in accordance with this presumption unless
the language makes it clear that certain questions were
intended to
be excluded from the arbitrator's jurisdiction
.”
(emphasis added)
[10]
[57]
Clause 11.1 of
the loan agreement between Kesef and Weinberg must be construed in a
manner consistent with this presumption and
leaves no room for any
suggestion that the parties intended to permit a bifurcated approach
whereby some elements of their dispute
would be referred to
arbitration and others to the High Court. The argument also loses
sight of the binding nature of an arbitration
agreement as recognised
in
section 3(1)
of the
Arbitration Act.
[58
]
The issue has
in any event already been decided.
[59]
Kesef
expressly pleaded its case on repudiation in its statement of
defence. It was accordingly before the learned arbitrator when
he
issued the award. At the meeting on 26 March 2023, Mr Garratt
acknowledged that the learned arbitrator had the power to make
the
determination and it was incumbent on Kesef to prove a repudiation
and its subsequent cancellation of the loan agreement before
the
learned arbitrator. It failed to do so and by making an award in
favour of Weinberg, he by implication dismissed any defence
based on
an alleged repudiation by Weinberg.
[60]
For this
reason no basis exists to stay the enforcement of the award. There is
in the circumstances no reason why the award should
not be made an
order of this Court in terms of
section 31(1)
of the
Arbitration Act.
Conclusion
[61]
While
the allegations of bias levelled against the learned arbitrator were
unfortunate, and lacked substance, I am not convinced
that costs on a
punitive scale are warranted.
[62]
I
accordingly make an order in the following terms:
[1]
The
application is dismissed.
[2]
The
arbitration award delivered by the third respondent on 21 April 2021
and annexed hereto marked “X” is made an order
of Court
in terms of
section 31(1)
of the
Arbitration Act 42 of 1965
.
[3]
The applicant
is ordered to pay the first respondent’s costs of the
application and the counterapplication including the costs
of two
counsel where employed.
C
BESTER AJ
JUDGE
OF THE HIGH COURT
JOHANNESBURG
Delivered:
26 July 2024
For
the Applicant:
AJ
Venter
Andrew
Garratt Inc
For
the First Respondent
S
Vivian SC
R
Schorn
Grayman
SM Attorneys
[1]
Kesef’s
Heads of Argument, para 59.
[2]
Kesef’s
Heads of Argument, para 68.
[3]
Lufuno
Mphaphuli
& Associates (Pty) Ltd
v
Andrews
and Another
2009
(4) SA 529
(CC) at para
215.
[4]
Kolber
v Sourcecom Solutions (Pty) Limited, Sourcecom Technology Solutions
(Pty) Limited v
Kolber
2001 2 SA 1097
at at para 43; see also
Amalgamated Clothing and Textile
Workers Union
v
Veldspun (Pty) Limited
1994 1 SA 162
(A) at 169C-E.
[5]
FDJ
Brand
Judicial
Review of Arbitration Awards
2014 25 Stell LR 247 at 252.
[6]
Dexgroup
(Pty) Ltd v Trustco Group International (Pty) Ltd
2013
(6) SA 520
(SCA) at paras 19 to
20.
[7]
Bester
v Easigas (Pty) Limited
1993 1 SA 30
(C) at 42J-43D.
[8]
At
paragraphs 27 to 29.
[9]
Take
and
Save
Trading
CC
and Others v Standard Bank of SA Ltd
2004
4 SA 1
(SCA) at para 4.
[10]
See
Zhongji
Development Construction Engineering Co Ltd v Kamoto Copper Co Sarl
2015
(1)
SA
345 (SCA) at para 13;
Remo
Ventures Pty Ltd v Cecile Van Zyl and Others
(1262/2022) [2024]
ZASCA
9 (26 January 2024) at para 18.
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