ANCYL contempt of court matter likely to be heard in 2018
14 August 2017
Durban – A contempt of court matter against the ANC Youth League in KwaZulu-Natal may only be heard in 2018 after the ANCYL opposed the application, a lawyer said on Monday.
The matter was meant to have been heard in the Durban High Court on Monday, but because the league opposed it, the application was removed from the court roll, Active Citizens Movement (ACM) lawyer Viren Singh said.
"It is likely that the first date the court will be able to give us is early next year. That is the way the justice system works."
He said the ANCYL had applied to strike down portions of the ACM’s founding affidavit.
Provincial ANCYL secretary Thanduxolo Sabelo said: "As the ANCYL we are opposing the matter and the matter is in court. More importantly, we can be able to say that we are certain we are going to win the case."
High Court Judge Rashid Vahed granted the ACM the interdict to stop the ANCYL from attending the Ahmed Kathrada memorial service, which was held in Durban on Sunday, April 9. It feared for the safety of the main speaker, former finance minister Pravin Gordhan. Kathrada died on Tuesday, March 28, aged 87.
After the ANCYL promised to behave, Vahed allowed them to attend.
However, the memorial, at the Sastri Hall in Durban, descended into chaos when ANCYL supporters sang, shouted, chanted President Jacob Zuma’s name, and heckled the speakers, including Gordhan.
The ANCYL’s behaviour was prompted by criticism of Zuma that had been expressed at Kathrada’s funeral and at other memorials for the ANC veteran.
Zuma in turn criticised his detractors for using memorial services to make political statements. He did not attend Kathrada's funeral at Westpark Cemetery in Johannesburg, apparently at the request of the family. There was confusion later over which family member had conveyed this message.
The ACM then gave the ANCYL an ultimatum to make a public apology for its behaviour at the Durban memorial, failing which it would initiate contempt of court proceedings and seek a punitive costs order. The ACM wants the court to order Sabelo to personally pay R50 000, and the league R100 000, to a charitable organisation.
It wants the court to order that the ANCYL place a paid-for advert apologising for its behaviour in four newspapers, including the isiZulu-language publication, Isolezwe.
