Stansfield gets relief on Yamaha dealership
The High Court of Malawi Commercial Division in Blantyre has ordered Yamaha Motor Company Limited of Japan to continue supplying merchandise to Stansfield Motors Limited until the court determines their case.
Presiding Judge Ken Manda has also restrained the Japanese company, which dealt with Stansfield through its South African distributor Tuning Fork (Pty) Limited, from putting into effect the purported termination of its sole distributorship agreement with Stansfield and entering into a new arrangement with Paramount Holdings Limited (PHL).
The ruling follows an application Stansfield filed seeking court’s clarification on its interim injunction order obtained on January 11 2024 against the termination of its agreement with the Japanese manufacturer.
The court granted the injunction to Stansfield alongside three other interested parties, namely Luthando Holdings Limited, Actor Import and Export Investment Limited and Stansfield Motors Limited.
The order restrained Yamaha whether by itself, its servants, agents or otherwise whosoever from putting into effect the purported termination of the sole distributorship agreement with Stansfield and also effecting its decision to enter into sole distributorship agreement with PHL.
Stansfield had been procuring Yamaha merchandise under the sole dealership agreement through Tuning Fork, but after the injunction the South African company stopped attending to Stansfield orders.
Tuning Fork reportedly stopped on the pretext that it was not covered by the injunction order and that the sole distributorship between the Malawian motor company and Yamaha had been terminated.
It was this development that compelled Stansfield to seek an order from the court clarifying the scope of the interim injunction order for all concerned parties to understand the full nature and purport of the order.
But in his clarification, Manda said the injunction order meant that the sole distributorship agreement with Stansfield Motors Limited still existed.
Reads the order: “Insofar as it stated that the 1st defendant [Yamaha Motor Company Limited] is restrained from putting into effect the purported termination of the sole distributorship agreement with the claimant [Stansfield Motors Limited], it means that the 1st defendant sole distributorship agreement with the claimant is still subsisting.”
Further, the court clarified that when the said order stated that Yamaha is restrained whether by itself, its servants, agents or otherwise whosoever, it included Tuning Fork and whoever other intermediaries there may be, through whom Stansfield acquires Yahama’s products for distribution in Malawi.
In his sworn statement, Stansfield general manager Kelvin Windel claims the Japanese company ended their agreement without notice, as such, the agreement is still valid; hence, rejecting the purported new agreement with PHL.
