Doorware CC and Mercury Fittings CC had, since 2002, cooperated in importing, selling and distributing QS stainless-steel ironmongery under an oral arrangement. They agreed not to compete geographically: Mercury Fittings would operate in the Western, Eastern and Northern Cape, and Doorware in the rest of South Africa. They also supplied Massmart under Mercury Fittings’ name. After the death of Mercury Fittings’ sole member in 2021, disputes arose. Doorware denied the existence of a binding agreement, altered Massmart account details, and opened an office in Cape Town. Mercury Fittings urgently sought and obtained an interim interdict restraining Doorware from operating in the Cape regions and from selling QS products there. The High Court referred disputes about the existence and binding nature of the agreement to oral evidence and granted the interim interdict. Doorware sought leave to appeal, which was refused, and then sought reconsideration by the Supreme Court of Appeal under s 17(2)(f) of the Superior Courts Act.