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Fin24 reports that a decade after the investment arm of the Southern African Clothing and Textile Workers' Union (Sactwu) loaned Sekunjalo Independent Media (SIM) R150 million, its case to have its loan and interest repaid has finally reached the Western Cape High Court.
SIM used the funds it received from the Sactwu Investment Group (SIG) in August 2013 to pay off a portion of its debt to the Public Investment Corporation (PIC). The PIC had helped finance the media group's acquisition of Independent Media from its Irish owners. But SIM never paid the R150 million loan back. SIG now wants the media group to pay it around R300 million – the original loan, plus interest that has accrued. SIM, a subsidiary of Iqbal Survé's Sekunjalo Investment Holdings, is the majority owner of the Independent Media group. It denies owing the union anything, arguing that the R150 million loan was swapped out for shares in another company in 2017. If the court were to find that the loan was not swapped out, SIM has produced a subordination agreement signed by Sactwu general secretary André Kriel in late 2017. The agreement states that the R150 million loan will only be paid back when SIM's assets exceed its liabilities. The subordination agreement essentially freezes SIG's claim to its loan until the struggling media group's finances improve.
- Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Jan Cronje at Fin24 (subscriber access only)
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