Auction Alliance has won its third victory

Former CEO of Auction Alliance, Rael Levitt.

The National Consumer Tribunal, on Wednesday 11 July, overturned compliance notices issued against Auction Alliance on contravening the Consumer Protection Act during the controversial Quoin Rock Estate auction.

Auction Alliance has won its third straight victory in line with exonerating itself from any penalty relating to the Appelbaum auction rigging scandal.

Reasons for the National Consumer Tribunal’s (NCT) decision to set them aside where not described in the order but said reasons would follow.

The legal team acting on behalf of Rael Levitt, Smiedt and Associates, told SA Commercial Prop News that the decision effectively liberates Auction Alliance and Levitt from any penalty relating to the Appelbaum matter, unless the tribunal or the courts, uphold an appeal or review of the decision. The ruling also meant the Quoin Rock Wine Estate auction could not be re-investigated, according to the act.

The notice followed a complaint by businesswoman Wendy Appelbaum to the commission in January after the auction of the Quoin Rock estate at Stellenbosch, conducted by Auction Alliance in December. 

The commission said it found "overwhelming evidence" that Auction Alliance and its former CEO Rael Levitt contravened the Consumer Protection Act by conducting a "mock auction".

The commission issued the compliance notice in April after the complaint by Ms Appelbaum, who alleged that Auction Alliance had placed a ghost bidder at the auction of the Quoin Rock wine estate to drive up the price.

This was not the first time the Consumer Commission had been sent to the drawing board by the tribunal. The commissioner, Mamodupi Mohlala-Mulaudzi, expressed shock at the decision and said the commission had done "everything required in terms of the Consumer Protection Act and the rules" in its investigation to put a solid case.

This also comes after Auction Alliance won two applications last month in the Western Cape High Court related to the investigations by the consumer commission and the Estate Agencies Affairs Board.