A Clear Victory: Court Orders Company and Director to Pay Capitec Over R2.1 Million in Loan Dispute

The KwaZulu-Natal High Court has delivered a decisive judgment in favour of Capitec Bank, ordering Mountain Meadow Investments (Pty) Ltd and its director, Jivesh Rajendran Pather, to pay the bank more than R2.1 million plus interest and legal costs. The ruling comes after the company defaulted on a substantial loan and overdraft facility.

The case centred on a loan facility of R1.8 million advanced to the company in August 2022 by Mercantile Bank, which later became a division of Capitec. The loan was repayable over 62 months, with Pather signing a suretyship capping his personal liability at R1.95 million.

A Trail of Defaults and Unanswered Demands

Mountain Meadow Investments began missing payments and ceased paying altogether in October 2023. By February 2025, the outstanding loan balance had ballooned to over R2 million, with arrears equivalent to approximately 21 missed monthly instalments. The company also defaulted on a separate R150,000 overdraft facility.

After demands for payment went unanswered, Capitec cancelled the facilities and approached the court for judgment.

A Defence Dismissed as “Contrived”

In court, the respondents raised several technical defences, challenging Capitec’s authority to sue, the validity of the agreements, and alleging reckless lending under the National Credit Act (NCA). Judge Robin Mossop dismissed all these arguments, describing them as lacking merit.

The judge found the agreements were properly concluded and enforceable. He also ruled that the NCA did not apply because Mountain Meadow Investments was a juristic person with assets exceeding the statutory threshold, placing the transaction outside the act’s protection.

The Final Order

The court ordered the company and Pather to pay the outstanding amounts jointly and severally, with interest calculated at 12.5% per annum on the loan and 22.1% on the overdraft. Pather’s personal liability remains capped at R1.95 million as per his suretyship.

In a further blow, they were also ordered to pay Capitec’s legal costs on the punitive attorney-and-client scale. The judgment serves as a stern reminder of the binding nature of credit agreements and the serious personal and corporate consequences of default, especially when a director has signed as surety.