The Western Cape High Court has granted retailer Steinhoff leave to appeal to the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) in the liquidation bid it is facing. 

This means that the winding-up bid against Steinhoff, brought by the former owners of shoe retailer Tekkie Town, will be put on hold while the SCA deals with whether a South African court has jurisdiction to hear the case. 

In early September, Presiding Judge Hayley Slingers had ruled that the court does have jurisdiction under SA company law to hear the case. Steinhoff then sought leave to appeal, which was eventually heard last week. It argued a separate postponement case earlier in the week. In her ruling on Friday, Slingers said that while she would have been unlikely to grant leave to appeal at this stage in the proceedings based on the evidence before her, the fact that Steinhoff has a case pending at the SCA forced her hand.

The judge said it would now be up to the SCA to probe whether repeated requests for leave to appeal and postponements by Steinhoff, and a group claiming to represent financial creditors, amounted to savvy and robust lawyering or bordered on an “abuse of process”.

Lawyers for the former owners of shoe retailer Tekkie Town had on Wednesday argued that the retailer was attempting to manipulate postponement requests, so it would not have to face questions around whether it is insolvent. 

Steinhoff denied this, saying it was “objectionable and entirely inappropriate” to claim it was trying to manipulate the court process.

The retailer has argued that, as an “external company” that is registered overseas, it cannot be subject to liquidation proceedings by a South African court. Since 2015, the group’s apex holding company has been domiciled in Amsterdam.