Wescoal Holdings will bring an urgent interdict this week to stop what CEO Mr Andre Boje called a malicious application to liquidate the coal-mining company in a fresh bout of bad news for the company which was involved in a bitter battle with a disgruntled contractor earlier this year.

Wescoal is drawing up papers to sue privately owned Sutha Civils which tried unsuccessfully to liquidate the JSE-listed company and which made a number of allegations against Wescoal and its operations in Mpumalanga that were strongly denied by the company’s management.

The allegations hit Wescoal share price hard around March this year.

Sutha Civils said it was owed money and Wescoal said the contract had not fulfilled its contractual obligations.

Now privately owned BSM Mining has lodged papers with the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria asking for Wescoal subsidiary, Wescoal Mining, to be placed under final or provisional winding-up, over alleged nonpayment of royalties worth R84146 to BSM due by October 15.

Mr Boy Simon Mdau the sole owner and MD of BSM said in papers lodged on October 27 that Wescoal directors had informed him on October 14 and 19 that he had an unregistered VAT number. Wescoal withheld payments until it had a valid copy of a VAT registration certificate.

Mr Mdau said he had a certificate and included it in his application. He said that "It is my submission that this is a delaying tactic by the respondent to delay payment as it is not able to make payment to the applicant (BSM)."

He also raised doubts in his submission about Wescoal ability to fund a rehabilitation liability at the Heuvelfontein property, which makes up the Khanyisa mine estimated by him to be BRL 42 million.

Mr Boje rejected all Mr Mdau claims and said Wescoal lawyers were instructed at the weekend to prepare an urgent interdict that would be brought this week to stop BSM’s application. He said that "You can see the malicious intent here. They gave you (Business Day) the file before they even got a notice of return from the sheriff that we’ve been served with the papers. We don’t even have the papers yet."

He added that "It’s an attempt to embarrass us. We’ll get it interdicted and carry on with our lives. He also said "I have absolutely no idea where he got that BRL 42 million rehabilitation liability. We have to supply the Department of Mineral Resources every month with our rehabilitation figures.”

He added that "We have it surveyed every month and it’s between BRL 2 million and BRL 8 million because we rehabilitate as we go."

(Sourced from www.businessday.co.za)