Cape Town - The SA Reserve Bank (SARB) on Monday said it would oppose a bid by the Public Protector to delay the so-called CIEX case related to the Bankorp bailout.
This after Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane said in court papers she would seek to have the start of the case - as well as the date for the latest round of answering affidavits - delayed, as she had recently retained new legal representation.
“Only on Friday, October 6, 2017, could the applicant’s newly assembled team of legal representatives convene a meeting to discuss the matter and the approach to be taken,” she said in an affidavit.
READ: SARB slams CIEX report on Bankorp in fresh court bid
Her previous legal team withdrew in late September.
“By this time, the entire legal team had only an overview of the matter as the documents could at that stage not have been studied by the legal representatives.”
In a report released by the Public Protector in June, she called for ABSA, which took over Bankorp in the early 1990s to pay back R1.125bn for a bail-out Bankorp received from the Reserve Bank during the apartheid era.
ABSA and the SARB have disputed that monies are outstanding and each filed separate applications to have the report reviewed.
In response to her latest affidavit, the SA Reserve Bank said that the bid to delay the matter was not made timeously and lacked sufficient reasoning.
“The Public Protector is impervious to the significant prejudice that this late in the day application will cause to the parties,” said the SARB in an answering affidavit.
“Her affidavit is unapologetic and fails to engage at all with the significant costs that will be incurred as a result of the postponement.”
Mkhwebane said she intended to argue for a delay in the case on November 17 at 10:00 before the North Gauteng High Court.
SUBSCRIBE FOR FREE UPDATE: Get Fin24's top morning business news and opinions in your inbox.
Read Fin24's top stories trending on Twitter: Fin24’s top stories