COSATU welcomes Aurora court judgement
The Congress of South African Trade Unions is thrilled by the dismissal by the Pretoria High Court of an urgent application by Khulubuse Zuma to have claims of over R1.5 billion against Aurora Empowerment Systems set aside.
"The application is dismissed with costs," ruled Judge Eberhardt Bertelsmann, as "Zuma's interests were not directly affected". The case will now be heard on 23 March 20125
In 2009, Aurora was appointed by liquidators to manage two mines formerly owned by Pamodzi in Springs and Orkney after the company went bankrupt. All that Aurora did however was allegedly to strip the mines of infrastructure and leave hundreds of workers without pay, and they have been struggling to survive for five years on handouts.
COSATU was concerned that Zuma's court bid could have even further delayed efforts by liquidators to hold the directors of Aurora responsible for the non-payment of workers and the alleged asset-stripping.
The liquidators' lawyers described Zuma's application as a ploy to stop the court hearing the application by the liquidators that seeks to hold him and other directors personally liable for the R1.7-billion.