FirstRand Bank Limited v Spar Group Limited (1334/2019) [2021] ZASCA 20 (18 March 2021)

A bank which is aware that funds deposited by a third party into its
client’s bank account to which the client has no legitimate claim may not appropriate
such funds on the premise that the client has a claim to the funds and use them by
way of set off to discharge the client’s debt to the bank – A bank which is aware that
a third party has deposited funds into its client’s bank account and is aware that the
client has no legitimate claim to the funds is under a duty to take steps to prevent
harm to the third party by way of the misappropriation of those funds by its client –
the bank’s failure to prevent harm to the third party renders it a co-wrongdoer with
the client for the theft.