A judgment handed down by the Pietermaritzburg High Court on Friday 27 August 2010 will see IFA having to pay over R18m to leading privately owned construction company Liviero.
The dispute between Liviero and IFA, which dates back to August 2009, centred around the non-payment by IFA of an amount of R18m for construction work on the Zimbali Faimont Hotel carried out by Liviero. As a consequence of non payment, Liviero was forced to cancel the contract. This despite Liviero using its own funds to carry the project for almost three months.
In addition to the favourable ruling on the matter of the outstanding payment, the Judge also found in favour of Liviero with regards to the legitimacy of the contract cancellation.
Commenting on the Judges' favourable ruling, Chairman of Liviero, Luca Liviero says "While we are pleased with the outcome of the court ruling, we are disappointed that this matter could not have been resolved amicably despite numerous attempts from our side during the months preceeding the cancellation. We will be pursuing further legal action around money owed for work carried out last August and related damages".