Government declines plea for speedy access to R50 million Cuban donation judgement

The government claims that it has taken notice of the Constitutional Court’s ruling, which was published on Tuesday and rejected its request for immediate access to the Gauteng High Court’s Pretoria decision on the government’s R50 million gift to Cuba.

The Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO), however, asserts that the government has not used all of its legal remedies and that the legal procedure is still continuing.

The government and the African Renaissance and International Cooperation Fund attempted to send aid to Cuba via the Fund in March, but the High Court blocked them.

DIRCO claims that the department concurrently petitioned the Supreme Court of Appeal for direct access and filed an application for direct access to the Constitutional Court to challenge the ruling.

The agency said on Wednesday that “the latter’s decision is still pending.”

The High Court is still hearing arguments in the review case against the decision to give humanitarian aid, according to the department.

“In its ruling, the Constitutional Court refrained from commenting on the case’s merits since it was addressing the direct access application, which is a procedural issue.

The subject should first be discussed and heard in a separate court since the Constitutional Court made it plain in its ruling that it would not consider the case at this point in the proceedings.

“Any narrative or suggestions in the media that the order given by the Constitutional Court is a ‘victory’ in the case are incorrect,” the department said, adding that all legal avenues remain open to government. “The substantive matters relating to the review are still to be addressed in the High Court process, which is currently ongoing.”

The department claims that after the legal process is finished, this includes appealing the case before the Constitutional Court.