REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA
THE SUPREME COURT OF APPEAL
OF SOUTH AFRICA
Reportable
Case Number : 324 / 04
In the matter between
THE COMMISSIONER OF SOUTH AFRICAN
REVENUE SERVICES APPELLANT
and
STAND TWO NINE NOUGHT WYNBERG (PTY) LTD FIRST RESPONDENT
JOHANNES FREDERICK KLOPPER N O SECOND RESPONDENT
MASTER OF THE HIGH COURT OF SOUTH AFRICA THIRD RESPONDENT
Coram
: HOWIE P, BRAND, NUGENT, CONRADIE and VAN HEERDEN JJA
Date of hearing
: 19 MAY 2005
Date of delivery
: 31 MAY 2005
SUMMARY
A liquidator of a company cannot agree with a debtor of the company to pay a debt
direct to a creditor of the company if doing so would subvert the scheme of distribution
laid down in the Insolvency Act 24 of 1936.
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J U D G M E N T
___________________________________________________________________________
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CONRADIE JA
[1] Inability to pay its debts led to the winding up of Super Diamond
Computers (Pty) Ltd (Super Diamond) at the instance of the respondent who
was the first respondent in the court a quo. Among Super Diamond’s debts was
R600 273.40 due to the res pondent for arrear rent. Super Diamond also owed
the appellant R515 702.52 in unpaid tax. Soon after the liquidation it was
discovered that Super Diamond had no money left because an associated
company, MMW Technologies (Pty) Ltd (MMW), had ‘taken over’ its assets
without paying for them.
[2] The liquidator, the second respondent in the court a quo , convened an
enquiry in terms of ss 41 7 and 418 of the Companie s Act 61 of 1973 to
investigate the taking of the assets. On the day the enquiry was to start, and
before any creditor had proved a clai m, MMW agreed by way of settling the
matter to pay to Super Diamond an am ount of R678 000 in respect of the
respondent’s claim as well as the costs of the liquidation and, moreover, to pay
every other creditor who should in due course prove a claim.
[3] In terms of the arrangement MMW paid R710 377.86 to Super
Diamond’s liquidator so that he might se ttle the respondent’s claim and costs.
Then the appellant and a nother, small, creditor proved their claims against
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Super Diamond. When MMW showed itself unable to pay these debts it was in
turn wound up. Its creditors received nothing.
[4] The liquidation and distribution account drawn by the liquidator naturally
reflected the debt collected from MMW. Th e plan of distribution entailed first
paying the appellant’s preferent claim 1 and then the claims of the two
concurrent creditors, one of which wa s the small creditor and the other the
respondent.
[5] The latter objected to the account, contending that the money paid by
MMW had been earmarked for the payment of its debt and should, despite the
appellant’s preferent claim, be paid to it. The Master (the second respondent in
the court a quo ) dismissed the objection. The re spondent then applied to the
court below for an order that it was entitled to have this money paid directly to
it and that the liquidator’s account should be amended to exclude it altogether.
There was also an altern ative claim which was not granted and is of no
importance now.
[6] The appellant was, on his applica tion, in December 2003 joined as an
additional respondent. In May 2004, desp ite opposition by the liquidator, the
Master and the Revenue, the court granted an order for the main relief sought by
1 A preference conferred by s 99(1)(cD) of the Insolvency Act 24 of 1936.
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the respondent. It gave the appellant leav e to appeal to this court. The Master
and the liquidator are not parties to the appeal.
[7] The agreement betw een MMW and Super Diamond reads as follows:
1 MMW will pay to Super Diam ond the sum of R528 000.00 by no
later than 2 June 2000. If this payment is not made by 2 June 2000
then this settlement will laps e and be of no force or effect.
2 The aforesaid payment is [in] fu ll and final settlement of the claim
which Super Diamond had against MMW for the sum of
approximately R7.1 million.
3 Super Diamond will utilize the fo resaid payment and the payment
of R250 000.00 which MMW has already paid to Super Diamond
to settle:
1 the claim of Stand Two Nine Nought Wynberg (Pty) Ltd in
the sum of R678 000.00;
2 the costs of administering the estate and the costs of
the enquiry in the sum of R100 000.00.
4 MMW indemnifies Super Diamond against any and all further
claims which may be proved against Super Diamond.
5 Super Diamond undertakes on receipt of any further claims against
Super Diamond, to submit such cl aim to MMW on receipt thereof
to enable MMW to oppose the proof of such claim.
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6 Should any further claims be proved against Super Diamond then
MMW will pay to Super Diamond the amount of such proved
claim within 7 days of written notification thereof.’
[8] The proposition that a debtor of an insolvent estate might arrange with its
trustee or liquidator to pay the claim of a particular estate creditor is an unusual
one. Giving effect to such an arrangement would enable the parties to subvert
the scheme of distribution laid down by the Insolvency Act 24 of 1936.
[9] In terms of s 391 read with s 342 of the Companies Act 61 of 1973 it is a
liquidator’s duty to rec over and reduce into posse ssion all the assets and
property of the company, to realize them and apply the proceeds in satisfaction
of the costs of winding up; and, if th ere is a residue, to distribute it to the
creditors entitled thereto in the order of preference and manner set out in ss 95 –
104 of the Insolvency Act.
[10] None of this was contentious be fore us. It was, however, urged by
counsel for the respondent that a liquida tor may nevertheless act as agent for a
creditor and on behalf of such creditor receive money and make payment to it
other than in accordance with the Insolv ency Act; that, he argued, is what
happened in this case.
[11] An assumption vital to the validity of the settlement agreement was that
MMW would see to it that all Super Di amond’s liabilities were settled. It would
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do this by immediately paying the first respondent’s claim and thereafter paying
the claims of whichever other creditors might prove claims . As long as MMW
honoured its obligations the agreement c ould be validly performed. As soon as
it did not, however, performance of the agreement would offend against the
Insolvency Act and for that reason be unlawful.
[12] When MMW failed to honour its obligations Super Diamond remained
insolvent and the liquidator became oblig ed to wind up its insolvent estate
according to the dictates of the Insolvency Act. Whatever mandate he may have
received from the respondent and what ever agreement he may have concluded
on behalf of Super Diamond had to yield to his statutory duty to recover and
reduce into possession all Su per Diamond’s assets and distribute the proceeds
according to law.
[13] Jankelow v Binder, Gering and Co 1927 TPD 364 was a case in which a
debtor assigned his estate for the benef it of his creditors and then by way of a
settlement amounting to ten shillings in the pound bought back the estate from
the assignee. A creditor who had not prov ed a claim contended that it could sue
on the contract between the debtor, the appellant, and the assignee. At page 370
Greenberg J says this:
‘The contract, as I have said, being in terms one between the assignee and the appellant, the
question to be decided is whethe r there is any principle which entitled a third party to sue on
that contract. Mr Rosenberg, for the respondent, has contended that he has that right, firstly,
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because the assignee was acting as agent for a ll the creditors, including the respondent, and,
secondly, because even if he was not acting as agent he was making a contract for the benefit
of the creditors which the creditors individu ally can accept. With regard to the first
contention, I know of no authority wh ich says that an as signee or a trustee is the agent of the
creditors. In some respects his position is an alogous to that of an agent, but there are
numerous other respects in which it is clear that he is not an agent; e g he is not subject to
their individual instructions; in certain cases he can go against the instru ctions and wishes of
a certain portion of them. So that contention must be rejected.’
[14] Even if the liquidator was the re spondent’s agent, a proposition which is
by no means free from doubt, he could, as appears from the passage above, only
comply with instructions from the responden t to act in its particular interests as
long as his duty as agent did not conflict w ith his duty to the estate or its other
creditors. It is trite that no agent ma y assume conflicting duties on behalf of
different principals; when it appeared that Super Diamond would not with
MMW’s assistance be able to pay its debts it became the liquidator’s overriding
duty to safeguard the integrity of the concursus creditorum. Since this is what
he did in framing his distribution account, the application was without merit.
[15] The appeal succeeds with costs. The order of the court a quo is replaced
by an order reading:
‘The application is dismissed with costs.’
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J H CONRADIE
JUDGE OF APPEAL
CONCURRING:
HOWIE P
BRAND JA
NUGENT JA
VAN HEERDEN JA