GEORGE NEWS - Mr. Tekkie scored yet another legal victory when Pepkor's interlocutory application to have certain affidavits and procedural steps taken in the Mr. Tekkie trademark case declared as irregular, was dismissed with costs in the Western Cape High Court. The application was heard on 3 June and judgement was handed down on Thursday 27 June.
Mr. Tekkie CEO and former Tekkie Town CEO Bernard Mostert welcomed the dismissal by Justice Siraj Desai in the ongoing battle involving the shareholders of the start-up retailer and Steinhoff-subsidiary Pepkor, relating to the use of the Mr. Tekkie trademark.
Since Mr. Tekkie's launch in late August last year it has had to defend several legal cases instituted by Pepkor.
"To date Pepkor's attempts have been futile and fruitless. We have opened 24 stores since October last year with another two stores to open later in July.
"In the process, 251 direct jobs have been created and the retail industry has been stimulated by the entry of a new player.
"We are grateful that the court dismissed Pepkor's application and that it ordered Pepkor to pay our costs.
"We are fighting our cases with our own resources whilst I guess it is fair to say that Pepkor is doing so with shareholders' funds," said Mostert.
Steinhoff recently summonsed its former CEO Markus Jooste and Pepkor founding CEO Ben la Grange to pay back more than R1-billion in salaries and bonuses earned whilst at the helm and in the employ of Steinhoff and Pepkor.
Mostert, Tekkie Town founder Braam van Huyssteen and a team of former Tekkie Town managers last year launched a restitution claim to restore their ownership in Tekkie Town after the Steinhoff shares they had received in return for selling their business became worthless when Steinhoff imploded following revelations of accounting irregularities and fraud.
Earlier this year they obtained an interdict against Steinhoff to prevent it from acting in any way in terms of its controlling share in Pepkor that will frustrate or block the return of the business to its rightful owners until after the main case has been heard.
Read a related article: Interdict was against Steinhoff, not Pepkor
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