Old Mutual confirms leave for appeal has been filed in High Court

Old Mutual confirms it has filed an application for leave to appeal against the court order granted yesterday in the case brought by its former CEO.

Old Mutual sent the signed notice of appeal to Mr Moyo’s lawyers last night, together with an instruction that, as a result of the appeal process, Mr Moyo is not permitted nor required to report for work. 

Old Mutual filed the appeal this morning as soon as the High Court in Johannesburg had opened. Mr Moyo will not be returning to office until the appeal process has been completed. It is very clear that there has been an irreparable breakdown in trust and confidence, and that any future working relationship is untenable.

Old Mutual points out that Mr Moyo and the media were indeed allowed access to the building after it opened to the public at 08h30am, following which Old Mutual’s legal team met with Mr Moyo and his legal team to explain Old Mutual’s approach. 

Following these discussions and on the advice of two Senior Counsel, Old Mutual is comfortable with the position it has adopted on the impact of the application for leave to appeal. It is clear either party can approach the court for appropriate relief. There will be no further meeting between the legal teams today. 

Old Mutual has maintained throughout that it believes it made the right decision to terminate Mr Moyo’s employment when the conflict of interest over NMT Group became unmanageable. Old Mutual re-iterates that its Board can and should hold the chief executive to a high standard. This requirement is both implicit and explicit in the employment contract. 

Old Mutual is confident it will be successful on appeal and that another court will come to a different conclusion. Until then the business continues as usual under the stewardship of the highly experienced Iain Williamson as interim CEO and a strong and competent leadership team. 

Old Mutual appeals to all its stakeholders not to be distracted by the ongoing court proceedings as they are not affecting the business from an operational perspective and the matter will be finally determined by an appeals process. 

Old Mutual continues to execute its strategy, underpinned by strong corporate governance.