High Court finds in favour of Old Mutual, absolving it of all contractual and delictual claims brought by Peter Moyo

After two weeks of hearings, the Gauteng Local Division of the High Court on Monday found in favour of Old Mutual in dismissing the damages case brought against it by former CEO Peter Moyo.

In his judgment, the Honourable Mr Justice Wright found that Mr Moyo had failed to produce any evidence on which it could be held that Old Mutual did anything wrongful in connection with the termination of Mr Moyo’s employment in June 2019.

In these proceedings, Mr Moyo argued that the termination of his employment was unlawful. He claimed reinstatement and damages in an amount of R230 million. In addition, he claimed damages in an amount of R20 million on the basis that statements made on behalf of Old Mutual in relation to the termination of his employment allegedly insulted him and violated his dignity. During the course of the hearing over the last two weeks, Mr Moyo abandoned his claim for reinstatement but persisted with his damages claims.

According to the judgment handed down this morning, the case advanced by Mr Moyo himself is not one which could lead to a finding for him. On that basis, the Court granted Old Mutual and its non-executive directors (who were cited as defendants) absolution from the instance. This means that there is no need for Old Mutual to call any witnesses to testify in opposition to Mr Moyo’s claims, which have been dismissed on the basis of Mr Moyo’s own version.

Specifically, the Court found that, before the termination of Mr Moyo’s contract, he had ample opportunity to put his side of the story. The Court found that no damages flowed from the suspension of his employment. On termination, it found that Old Mutual correctly applied clause 24.1.1 of the employment contract, which allowed either Old Mutual or Mr Moyo to terminate the contract on six months' notice. The Court said it agreed with and was bound by similar findings made by a Full Bench of the High Court in January 2020, which also found Old Mutual had acted lawfully in terminating Mr Moyo’s contract.

The Court found no evidence to support Mr Moyo’s claim for loss of dignity. It found instead that in the public spat that followed the termination of his employment, it was Mr Moyo who was “direct, forceful and combative”. By contrast, in an interview with CNBC, Old Mutual was found to have spoken “lawfully, reasonably and fairly”.

Following Mr Moyo’s initial interim reinstatement application in July 2019, today’s decision adds to numerous judgments finding Old Mutual acted lawfully in terminating his contract.

Judgment in Mr Moyo’s consolidated application to have the Old Mutual non-executive directors declared delinquent and to have them declared in contempt of court remains pending.