In the case of Ecenter Trading (Pty) Ltd and Others v First
National Bank Ltd and Another, the Gauteng Division of the
High Court, Pretoria, made various findings as to the remedies
available where a block on transactions has been imposed by the
South African Reserve Bank ("the SARB").
These blocks are imposed in terms of regulations 22A and 22C of the
Exchange Control Regulations ("the
Regulations").
Background
Ecenter held various accounts with First National Bank
("FNB") for making certain payments to
their Chinese suppliers. However, the suppliers did not receive the
payments as the SARB had instructed FNB to block the transactions.
Prior to the court proceedings, Ecenter was not aware of the
reasons behind the transactions being blocked. As such, the
applicants instituted a mandatory interdict to compel the SARB to
release the funds subject to the block and then after the answering
affidavit was delivered, Ecenter amended the relief to compel the
SARB to
