Business Day wants Alliance Mining collapse data

The company was chaired by African National Congress treasurer-general Mathews Phosa and‚ weeks before its collapse‚ it received a R120m loan from the Industrial Development Corporation. It went into liquidation after announcing that its previous financial results had overstated profits by at least R230m.

Business Day columnist Stuart Theobald made an application in terms of the Promotion of Access to Information Act to obtain the documents in January this year but the liquidators refused it.

Theobald and Business Day have now approached the court for an order requiring the liquidators to hand over the documents‚ including a forensic report by Grant Thornton, and documents given to an inquiry into the affairs of the company in terms of section 417 of the old Companies Act. They have argued that it is clearly in the public interest that the collapse of the company is reported on and that‚ by withholding information‚ the liquidators are frustrating Theobald's right to report freely on the matter.

Financial journalists must be 'able to report on misdeeds and the way the authorities deal with them'

In their responding affidavit‚ the four liquidators‚ led by Westrust's Norman Klein‚ claim that disclosing the requested information would damage the recoverability of the assets of the company. The liquidators say they have launched court proceedings against the former CEO‚ financial director and chief operating officer of the company‚ and a number of related companies and directors.

Financial director Connie van Nieuwkerk was simultaneously financial director of African Dawn‚ a microlending company that was rescued by major creditor Nedbank at about the same time that Alliance Mining went into liquidation. The former executives of the company also objected to the liquidators providing the information to Theobald‚ as did Grant Thornton and Nedbank.

According to court documents from the liquidators' applications‚ the company had a R93m exposure to its own equity using contracts-for-difference in Nedbank was the counter party. The Companies Act forbids companies from taking such exposures.

Theobald said, "A free market economy depends on financial journalists being able to report on misdeeds and the way the authorities deal with them. The liquidators are undermining this critical function".

Business Day editor Peter Bruce said the newspaper provided the information and analysis that kept South Africa's economy working. "Where necessary we will go to court to protect our rights to do so‚ not only in our own interest‚ but in that of all South Africans."