Dirco suffers yet another blow over its intention to donate R50 million to Cuba

The Department of International Relations and Cooperation (Dirco) has suffered yet another blow over its controversial R50 million donation to Cuba.

On Tuesday the Constitutional Court dismissed Dirco’s application for direct access to appeal the order by the Gauteng High Court in Pretoria, which interdicted the government and the African Renaissance and International Cooperation Fund (ARF) from proceeding with its R50 million humanitarian assistance to Cuba.

Dirco issued a statement on Wednesday noting the court’s order dismissing its application.

In March, AfriForum obtained an interim basis interdict to stop Dirco from donating a reported R50 million to Cuba until a review application process later this year. AfriForum campaign officer for strategy and content Reiner Duvenage said the organisation was glad the court upheld the interdict.

“The government is proving so desperate to donate the much-needed funds to Cuba that it has also lodged leave to appeal applications at the Supreme Court of Appeal and Constitutional Court,” he added.

“Dirco applied for direct access to the Constitutional Court to appeal the order while simultaneously petitioning the Supreme Court of Appeal for direct access. The decision of the latter is still awaited.

“In its order, the Constitutional Court did not pronounce itself on the merits of the case, as it was dealing with the application for direct access, which is a procedural matter,” the statement read.

Previously, International Relations and Cooperation Minister Naledi Pandor said Cuba faced chronic food, fuel, medicine, and electricity shortages.

Meanwhile, Monyela said any suggestion that the order given by the Constitutional Court is a “victory” in this case is erroneous.

“The substantive matters relating to the review are still to be addressed in the high court process, which is currently ongoing, and all legal routes remain available to the government, including to appeal the matter in the Constitutional Court once the legal proceedings have taken their course,” he said.

Source: News24, The Citizen, image from Twitter: Dirco South Africa

Doctor Mahlaule

Doctor Mahlaule previously worked as a Freelance Journalist at Find-it SA where he was responsible for writing news articles and sharing them on social media platforms. Doctor Mahlaule holds a Diploma in Journalism, BA in Communication Science and a BA Honours in Media Studies. Doctor began his journey as a knowledge Management and Communications Intern at Zenex Foundation. He was responsible for support in event management, social media, website maintenance, writing and brand management. On weekends Doctor attends prison ministry and shares the scriptures with inmates at Krugersdorp prison and plays soccer in the afternoon on some weekends. He has a passion for reading and writing and enjoys going out with friends and socialising in his spare time. He has a one-year-old son and is planning on getting married soon. When asked about what keeps him going, he said: “My family keeps me going. I’m the man I am because I come from a loving home. I have a very supportive family who always encourages me to keep pushing hard.”

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