Peace on earth… well almost

Christmas is supposed to be a time of peace and goodwill. But a fall-out between two local property development partners over allegations that one’s son-in-law had attempted to make a secret R400 000 profit by overcharging their company for air-conditioners has landed up in court.

Now the relationship between Gonubie businessman Dean de Villiers and his three business partners in KWT Business Park, Clive Gradwell, Mervin Stone and Ian Clough are in tatters.

Last week Grahamstown High Court judge Jos Jones ordered the other KWT Business Park directors, Clive Gradwell, Mervin Stone and Ian Clough to honour an agreement they had with De Villiers and to sign indemnity for a R15m guarantee facility from First National Bank to De Villiers’ Mr Fuel petroleum company. 

In an affidavit De Villiers said, despite a unanimous signed agreement between him and his fellow directors that KWT Business Park would obtain the guarantee in favour of Sasol to supply Mr Fuel with petroleum, they later reneged on the deal.

He said it was also agreed and recorded in directors’ minutes that he would sign all the necessary documentation.
He said his intention had been to generate a sufficient cash flow with the money through his petroleum deport business to provide temporary funding for the cash-strapped KWT Business Park.

Because Sasol did not have the necessary facilities to accommodate his company, it referred Mr Fuel to one of its BEE associates, Siyanda Petroleum, which also required a R15m bank guarantee.

Meanwhile FNB informed him that it needed the signatures of two directors as authorization.
However, he told the court, during the period after the signing of the initial documents he had become involved in a number of disputes with Gradwell, a well known businessman from King William’s Town.

“I previously caused Gradwell considerable embarrassment when I discovered that his future son-in-law whom he insisted should be awarded the air-conditioning contract for (one of KWT Business Park’s building) had attempted to make a secret profit by invoicing KWT Business Park with a sum of R600 000 for the supply of 24 air-conditioning units.”

De Villiers said he objected to the deal and as a result of his insistence Gradwell’s son-in-law had to provide an extra 72 units.

In his judgment Jones refused to strike out the “alleged offensive allegations” and said “they have bearing on the breakdown of the relationship between the parties.”

In April Gradwell called a directors’ meeting during which De Villiers’  fellow directors removed him as chairman, a position he had held for 12 years.

Subsequently his fellow directors also refused to sign the new FNB documentation.
Their refusal caused him considerable financial damage, De Villiers told the court.
Jones rejected an explanation by Gradwell, Clough and Stone that during that time, when De Villiers said they had agreed to the deal, they had signed an enormous bulk of documents, without reading it. They said they presumed that the documents relating to the R15m guarantee agreement had, unbeknown to them, been inserted among the other documents. “Their explanation cannot be accepted. Their explanation that their signatures were dishonestly obtained… is not only fanciful. It is impossible,” said Jones.

De Villiers also told the court that as a result of their refusal to sign the bank document Mr Fuel would lose many clients. He said KWT Business Park also owed his construction company almost R2.5m.

He said his fellow directors have via attorney Neville Woolgar intimated that they “will not (under) any circumstances be prepared to arrange for any guarantees to be issued in favour of De Villiers or his companies…”

De Villiers says he will now sue his fellow directors for damages. Gradwell, who has replaced De Villiers as chairman, would not comment. “If a man has to stoop to that level to get publicity then all I can say is shame.”