First he pumped his fist to celebrate the victory, then Peter Moyo called over to a former colleague on the other side of the court: "The boss is coming back!"
But Old Mutual's fired CEO, who was reinstated by a high court judgment on Tuesday, did not sit at his old desk this week, nor is he officially back. The legal battle between the life insurer and its former boss is not over.
Old Mutual is appealing the judgment and on Friday filed an urgent application with the court for a declaratory order about what should happen as the parties wait for the appeal to be heard.
"The judgment was totally impractical for the organisation," Old Mutual's board said on Friday at the insurer's Sandton office. Board members spoke to Business Times but, as the board was unanimous in its view, did not want to be named individually.
Describing the situation as "untenable", Old Mutual's board said it was not about to let Moyo come back and run the company after they had lost confidence in him.
"Once you've lost confidence in a chief executive, that's the end of the road," said the board.
Moyo could not be reached for comment, but his lawyer, Eric Mabuza, when asked about the application for a declaratory order, said: "That's what we told them to do. Sanity has prevailed."
Moyo was suspended as CEO in May over his alleged mishandling of a conflict of interest - he is the founder of, and holds a stake in, NMT Capital and NMT Group, companies in which Old Mutual is also invested.
When the life insurer suspended Moyo, it said there was a breakdown of confidence and trust in the CEO after he had received dividends from NMT, while Old Mutual - as a preference shareholder - should have been in line before him and other ordinary shareholders.
In June, Old Mutual terminated Moyo's employment contract. But the CEO approached the South Gauteng High Court with an urgent application that he be reinstated. This week, judge Brian Mashile ruled that Old Mutual did not follow the correct procedure in terminating Moyo's contract.
"The reason we are appealing it, is we really just don't understand how it [the judgment] could have happened that way," the board said on Friday.
Acting on legal advice, Old Mutual believes that its appeal suspends Mashile's judgment until the appeal is heard. This is why the insurer wants a declaratory order.
Mabuza reportedly accused the company of being in contempt for not allowing his client into his office on Wednesday.
Moyo has until Tuesday to respond to the application and it has been set down to be heard on August 13, Old Mutual said.
And chances of reaching an agreement outside the courtroom are slim.
"It is unthinkable that we can get into a settlement with Peter that involves the payment of money for the problem to go away, so to speak," the board said.
"If we were to enter into a settlement, at the least it would be that he apologises and withdraws the allegations that he made and walks away, and then hopefully as an institution we don't go after him."
Moyo's legal team argued that the termination of his employment was a reprisal for disclosures he made criticising Trevor Manuel for conflicts of interest and questioning whether Old Mutual should be paying his legal fees. The company said the legal fees it paid on behalf of Manuel related to matters that affected Old Mutual.
OId Mutual's board said the matter was never raised as a concern by Moyo.
The company does not believe there is any substance in the matters raised by Moyo in his affidavit, on which his legal team relied heavily, about Manuel's alleged "triple conflict of interest".
In a second part of Moyo's court application, which is still to be heard, he wants the court to declare the directors of Old Mutual delinquent.
Parallel to the legal processes under way, Old Mutual is also doing what is necessary to exit its investment in NMT - to which the insurer has exposure of R284m.
"Operationally the business continues as usual, but we cannot deny that this has been distracting for staff," acting CEO Ian Williamson told Business Times.
The dispute between Moyo and Old Mutual has hurt the company's share price. This week, after Old Mutual lost in court, the share price fell 5%. It ended the week 6.6% lower at R19.
The company has made attempts to allay concerns clients may have over the impact this high-profile battle is having on operations.
It said in a letter sent this week to clients that "despite what is playing out in the media and in the courts, our business operations have not been affected".
