BL Premium reports that, as a public slinging match rumbles on, Old Mutual chairperson Trevor Manuel has defended his board’s decision to block Peter Moyo from returning to work as CEO, saying the insurer’s second dismissal letter was valid.  

Old Mutual fired Moyo in June, citing a breakdown in trust and alleged conflict of interest.  This prompted Moyo to sue for unfair dismissal.  A court ruled in his favour, and twice ordered his reinstatement.  But Old Mutual barred Moyo from resuming his duties last Monday as it was appealing, and has since issued a second dismissal letter.  Speaking on Friday, Manuel said the company was "respectfully" enforcing its rights in a situation where a court ruling was taking those rights away.  "There is a difference of opinion about the judgment.  I don’t think that having a [different] view about a judgment which we are appealing suggests that there is contempt," said Manuel, who also took a swipe at judge Brian Mashile, calling him "a single judge who happens to wear a robe".  The brawl has weighed on Old Mutual’s share price, tainted its image and has left it in leadership limbo after Mashile’s ruling in July prevented the insurer from recruiting a new CEO until the appeal has been heard.  At the centre of the boardroom drama is the payment of ordinary dividends by NMT Capital, a company that Moyo co-founded, while Old Mutual’s preferential dividends and preferential capital were still outstanding.

• Read the full original of the above report by Londiwe Buthelezi at BusinessLive (paywall access only)
• Read too, Moyo decision a corporate governance headache, on page 16 of Sunday Independent of 15 September 2019

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