Fate of phosphate shipment in limbo
A South African court has ruled a $6.9 million shipment of phosphate fertiliser bound for New Zealand must remain in Port Elizabeth until a trial determines who owns it.
Fertiliser company Ballance Agri-Nutrients has been awaiting the 54,000 tonne cargo since early May when it was detained in Port Elizabeth by an injunction taken out by activists from the Western Sahara independence movement.
The phosphate has been mined in a region disputed between Morocco and the independence movement. ‘‘The court has determined that because of the complexity of the issue, it will go to trial,’’ Ballance chief executive Mark Wynne said.
The hearing on Thursday had determined South Africa was a jurisdiction that could hear the case. It would go to a higher court but no date has been set for a hearing. Wynne said he had been hoping the case would have had a similar result to one earlier this month in Panama, where a phosphate shipment from the disputed region bound for Canada had been also detained. Panama is one of about a dozen countries which recognises the Western Sahara.
‘‘’’They heard the case and dismissed it entirely as political. We were hopeful for a similar outcome,’’ Wynne said. ‘‘The United Nations Security Council is trying to resolve it and we think that’s the best place for it to be resolved.’’ The Port Elizabeth court said its judgement was clear: ‘‘Morocco has no claim to sovereignty over Western Sahara. Its claim as result of its occupation of the territory is incompatible with the status of Western Sahara as a non-self-governing territory. Furthermore, it acquired control of the territory by force. This, as a means of acquiring sovereignty, is contrary to customary international law.’’ Ballance has ordered another shipment of phosphate. The vessel Common Spirit left Morocco on May 17, and is set to arrive in Tauranga on June 25.