First round of Cuba donation appeal fails

THE Department of International Relations and Cooperation yesterday lost its first round for leave to appeal against the North Gauteng High Court, Pretoria’s earlier ruling provisionally interdicting the government from donating R50 million to Cuba.

Minister Naledi Pandor, applied for leave to appeal the entire judgment and order delivered in March.

Although the high court yesterday turned down the application, counsel acting for the department told the court that they had also applied for leave to appeal directly to the Supreme Court of Appeal as well as the Constitutional Court.

These applications are still to be determined.

Judge Brenda Neukircher, in turning down the department’s application for leave to appeal, said the order she made in March was only interim – pending the outcome of the review proceedings – and not appealable.

AfriForum earlier obtained the urgent interdict to stop what it deemed to be a “ludicrous” donation amid a serious economic crisis in South Africa.

The second part of the application, to be heard at a later date, is still to be determined. This will involve submitting a review application to overturn the government’s decision to donate the funds to Cuba.

It was argued on behalf of the department that there were good prospects that another court would come to a different finding than that of Judge Neukircher.

The judge, however, did not comment on this as her refusal was based on her finding that an interim order is not appealable.

AfriForum earlier asked the court to stop the payment of the millions by the department’s African Renaissance and International Cooperation Fund, pending the review of the move.

AfriForum meanwhile opposed the application for leave to appeal on the grounds that the urgent interdict was granted on an interim basis pending the outcome of the later review application of the decision to make the donation.

The organisation argued that there is no reason to appeal an urgent court order and that the government will receive an opportunity to make its case when the review application is heard.

The R50m, to which AfriForum is opposed to being donated to the government of Cuba, is part of R71m rolled over from the 2020/21 financial year.

Judge Neukircher, during her judgment in March, said given the fact that the government refused to give an undertaking not to continue with the donation pending the outcome of future proceedings, AfriForum has demonstrated that irreparable harm would be caused if this interdict is not granted.

“The public purse stands to lose R50m which will affect every single South African on many levels,” the judge said at the time.

In granting the interdict, Judge Neukircher earlier said none of the respondents can claim that they will suffer any harm where the R50-million donation is put on hold for now, until the matter is fully ventilated by the court during the review application.

AfriForum said it simply sought an order that the funds should not be disbursed at this stage.

The judge said if the court ruled against AfriForum at the end of the legal battle, the funds still remained there to be donated.

The government has defended its decision to donate the millions, saying it was responding to a call for humanitarian assistance by the Caribbean island nation. The court was told that in terms of the law, it was entitled to donate this money to Cuba.

AfriForum maintained that it was an unlawful donation and wasteful expenditure which was squandering taxpayers’ money.

Its stance is that this money could be used to solve the myriad of problems in South Africa.