Durban Deep, Kebbles head for court clash
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Multi-million rand claims launched
Financial Services Correspondent
THE dispute between mining bosses Brett and Roger Kebble and Mark Wellesley-Wood is set to reach court within a month as both parties are launching multimillion rand damages claims against each other.
Durban Roodepoort Deep CEO Wellesley-Wood says he will initiate claims for R200m while Johannesburg Consolidated Investments (JCI) CE Brett Kebble will launch a civil damages suit for "tens of millions of rand" against Wellesley-Wood and Durban Deep for malicious prosecution and invasion of privacy.
The twist follows a High Court ruling on Thursday to dismiss an Anton Pillar search and seizure order granted in February to Brett Kebble, which saw documents seized from Durban Deep, security company AIN and Durban Deep's auditors Deloitte & Touche.
Both Kebble and WellesleyWood have described the judgment as a "success".
"The documents will be kept under lock and key at the courts for us to have access to during our civil action . All along, we only wanted the documents to be preserved and not destroyed prior to the court case," Kebble said.
Wellesley-Wood rejected Kebble's contention, saying all documents had been returned.
"It was a resounding failure for Kebble. Not only were costs awarded against him, but they were ordered on a punitive scale."
Wellesley-Wood says Durban Deep's R200m claims will include a R32m lawsuit against Brett Kebble's JCI for debts allegedly owed to it, a R35m action against Continental Goldfields in Australia , a R122m claim over a controversial Durban Deep share issue allegedly authorised by Roger Kebble and a R6,5m claim against Roger Kebble over money paid to Skilled Labour Brokers.
Kebble says he will launch his damages claim within 21 days and will lay criminal charges . He says Wellesley-Wood employed AIN to investigate him and his father which led to the security company "bribing bank officials and tax officials" to get confidential information. Wellesley-Wood admitted AIN had looked into the Kebbles, but denied any improper actions were ever sanctioned.
With tensions between the two camps clearly at fever pitch, both Kebble and Wellesley-Wood dismissed the threat of the impending lawsuits.
Kebble said that Wellesley-Wood "had been threatening legal action for over two years" and as yet no summons has yet been issued. He adds the R200m claim is baseless.
"We're not in the slightest bit concerned. We look forward to the chance to destroy him in court," he said.
Wellesley-Wood echoed the same sentiments from the opposite corner, saying Kebble's " evidence ... was rejected by the court in this (Anton Pillar) matter, and it's likely that it will also be rejected by other courts as well," he said.
Apr 22 2003 06:41:38:000AM Rob Rose Business Day 1st Edition
Tuesday
22 April 2003
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