Businessman Sikhumbuzo Brian Mkhabela is set to lodge a fresh court application challenging African Bank's governance processes. This after the Durban High Court dismissed his case last month, on the grounds that it was not urgent.
Mkhabela had tried to stop the 4 July launch of KwaZulu-Natal resort, Club Med Tinley, saying the internal governance structures in African Bank were questionable in how funding was approved.
"We may mount a fresh application and are seeking legal advice," he told the Mail & Guardian.
Mkhabela is also the CEO of Pension Transparency South Africa, a non-profit organisation dedicated to promoting transparency, accountability and responsible governance around pension fund investments.
In his affidavit, he detailed his frustration with the bank after applying for a R54 million loan to acquire Pallet Link Proprietary Limited.
He said that after applying, he engaged with bank representatives "over an extended period, expecting ordinary credit review approval or rejection within reasonable institutional timeframes".
"However, by approximately November 2025, despite repeated engagement and follow-up communication, African Bank had failed to communicate any formal final decision concerning approval or rejection of the financing application.
"I found such delay unusual, given the substantial period which had already elapsed without meaningful communication or formal institutional decision-making.
"During this same period, information increasingly suggested that substantial management attention and internal institutional resources within African Bank were simultaneously being directed toward financing arrangements associated with the Club Med South Africa development involving the fifth respondent (Tinley Leisure (Pty) Ltd).
"While my own transaction remained effectively stalled within internal approval structures, substantial financing activity associated with the Club Med South Africa development appeared to progress internally without equivalent delay.
"Ultimately, no formal written approval or rejection was ever communicated to me directly by African Bank. Due to prolonged delay and continued uncertainty surrounding financing confirmation, the seller involved in the Pallet Link transaction ultimately terminated the underlying acquisition process."
Mkhabela said he independently began investigating African Bank.
"Such independent investigation eventually led me to information concerning the Club Med South Africa financing transaction, internal governance approval structures responsible for approving substantial financing decisions and subsequent regulatory intervention later undertaken by the Prudential Authority. I respectfully place these facts before court not for purposes of seeking personal compensation and not because this application arises from any private hostility toward African Bank.
"The significance of the Pallet Link transaction lies elsewhere.
"My direct dealings with African Bank first exposed unusual operational conduct and unexplained internal approval dysfunction, which caused me to begin investigating wider institutional governance concerns. Such concerns were later independently reinforced when the Prudential Authority itself subsequently raised formal regulatory concerns concerning African Bank internal reporting legitimacy and governance processes.
"The immediate purpose of this application is preservation of the status quo pending urgent judicial scrutiny before irreversible implementation proceeds on 4 July 2026."
Mkhabela had requested the court to "direct the first (African Bank Limited) and second respondents (African Bank Holdings Limited) to preserve and secure all governance records connected directly or indirectly to approval of financing associated with the Club Med South Africa development".
Mkhabela said he sought temporary judicial intervention requiring disclosure, preservation of governance records and scrutiny concerning whether approvals issued remain legally sustainable, "in light of prior regulatory findings confirmed against African Bank".
"I respectfully submit that immediate judicial intervention is necessary before irreversible implementation scheduled for 4 July 2026 permanently alters the factual and legal position presently before court.
"I respectfully submit that the relief sought in this application is narrow, temporary and proportionate to the serious governance concerns already placed before court."
Club Med, who is among the respondents, did not respond to the court challenge, saying it was "a matter to do with AB (African Bank)".
African Bank spokesperson Mpho Singo said: "It is noted that, in his papers, Mr Mkhabela seeks to rely extensively on newspaper articles, media reports, unverified third-party submissions, complaints he himself lodged with regulators and his affidavit—itself not containing the factual allegations to support the relief that is sought.
"The applicant provides no cognisable case for its locus standi.
"Mr Mkhabela's prior relationship with African Bank was a proposed financing transaction which was never concluded.
"Neither applicant has contractual or other rights against African Bank arising from the Club Med or Tinley Leisure transaction, to which they are entirely unrelated third parties.
"Hence, the bank has not been able to ascertain their bona fide interest in the matter."
Singo said the bank noted that Mkhabela has not alleged wrongdoing by any individual or institution in the applications and "he concedes that there are no allegations of fraud, corruption, illegality or proven misconduct in relation to the Club Med or Tinley Leisure transaction".
"In previous correspondence, Mr Mkhabela acknowledged that the bank had, from the outset of the engagement, addressed specific factual points on the Club Med Tinley development.
"Mr Mkhabela has already lodged complaints with the Financial Sector Conduct Authority, the Prudential Authority and other regulatory bodies. The Bank will engage with those regulatory processes in the fullness of time and in the appropriate forum.
"Having reviewed the second application papers, it is the bank's considered view that this application is also flawed and is lacking in merit.
"The bank will be opposing the application," Singo said.
African Bank operated "within a robust governance and regulatory framework and applied stringent internal processes in evaluating and approving all transactions".
Singo said the bank's participation in the Club Med Tinley development was "undertaken in line with our standard investment processes and within the applicable regulatory and governance frameworks".
With the 4 July date for the opening of the KZN resort having come and gone, Mkhabela remains determined to place his side of the story before the Durban High Court.