LACASSEROLE GRANTED ORDER FOR LIQUIDATION

MBABANE – Following the prevailing financial crisis which led to its closure, Lacasserole has been granted an order for liquidation.

The court further issued an order appointing senior attorney Sabelo Masuku as Liquidator The order by the court comes after LaCasserole filed an urgent application where it argued that it was no longer affording to meet its financial obligations and this led to its closure. 

In its application for liquidation which had been filed under a certificate of urgency, the directors of the company stated that they were praying for an order for the appointment of Masuku as liquidator.
They further argued that the appointment of the liquidator would not only be in the interest of the company, but also the creditors generally.

According to the directors, the immediate consequences of the liquidation would be as follows:  enable liquidators to properly and immediately investigate the affairs, assets and liabilities of the company with a view of an equitable distribution of all creditors; minimise the likelihood of any creditor’s claim being unjustly preferred above others;  enable the liquidator to control the disposal of the business as a going concern in the interest and the benefit of  the creditors and to prevent the company from incurring further debt and/or disposing of its assets to the obvious detriment of not only the company but to the general body of creditors.

The closure of LaCasserole Restaurant has been as a result of it being in severe financial crisis. The directors of Rehoboth (PTY) Limited trading as LaCasserole disclosed that the company owed different companies a total amount of E500 000. Another reason which resulted in the closure of the popular Mbabane eatery was because it was also being owed by various companies in excess of E137 000. This has been disclosed in the company’s application for liquidation filed by Lawyer Celumusa Bhembe last Friday. The application for liquidation was filed before High Court Judge Mzwandile Fakudze last Friday who, however, postponed the matter to this week. LaCasserole was registered on May 7, 2007 and its main objective was to carry out a restaurant business and to provide conference venues. In its application for liquidation the company averred that it was insolvent in terms of the Company Act as it was unable to pay its debts.  It (LaCasserole Restaurant) claimed that it had been actually trading on deficiency since 2012 resulting in it closing its operations.

According to the shareholders of the company, Zinhle Nontobeko Lukhele and Busisiwe Elizabeth Lukhele, if they would continue trading they could be exposing the company to further debt and liability as they were aware that it was incapable of satisfying its liabilities.

According to information contained in its application for liquidation, the company admitted that it was indebted to the Swaziland Revenue Authority (SRA) in the sum of E350 000.
It also owes its employees a sum of E100 000.

As if that was not enough summons of the sum of E97 812 has been issued against the company by SMVS Investments in respect of rentals.
The restaurant, according to the court papers had been closed and was no longer operating. It is reported that the company stopped conducting its business on January 30, 2018 and had since vacated the premises where the business was conducted. “As at date, hereof, your petitioner (LaCasserole) is truly indebted to its creditors in excess of a sum of E500 000. Although there are various creditors the company is indebted to, it has at this stage been unable to verify all creditors,” submitted the directors.

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