New attempt by Zimbabwe to stop auction of properties

A fresh attempt has been made by the government of Zimbabwe to stop the auction of Zimbabwe-owned properties in Cape Town, scheduled for 27 July and 10 August 2010.  This time, however, Zimbabwe approached the South Gauteng High Court.

This follows an earlier, seemingly fruitless, application in the North Gauteng High Court brought by Zimbabwe against three farmers supported by AfriForum: Louis Fick, Richard Etheredge and Michael Campbell.

Despite wide media coverage since 15 May 2010 about the auctions arranged by German bank group KFW Bank Gruppe, lawyers for the government of Zimbabwe thought it appropriate to bring an urgent application against the farmers, scheduled to be heard on 3 August 2010.

"It appears that the Zimbabwean government only learnt that the auctions were in fact arranged by someone else from our opposing papers filed on 20 July 2010.  The fact that the Zimbabwean government ignored the proceedings instituted against them in February has now created an even bigger problem for the regime," said AfriForum legal spokesperson, Willie Spies. "Their disregard for legal process seems to be catching up with them," Spies added.

The new urgent application, which was served in a hurry over the weekend, is set to be heard today (Monday, 26 July 2010 at 14:00 in the South Gauteng High Court).

AfriForum and the farmers prefer that the matter be dealt with together with the farmers' application for security for costs in the other application, set for 3 August 2010 in the North Gauteng High Court. AfriForum and the farmers will, however, not oppose the application formally.

Statement issued by Willie Spies, Legal Spokesperson: AfriForum, July 26 2010

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