The interim order shall stand pending finalisation of the main application by February 19th, 2013. AfriForum had issued an urgent application to the court earlier in the day after news of the donation to the Zimbabwean government broke. A week before, legal representatives for AfriForum had presented letters to the Minister of Defence, Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula, as well as the Minister of Justice, Jeff Radebe, who is also Chairperson of the National Conventional Arms Control Committee, after rumours surfaced that SANDF had decided to donate its entire fleet of used Alouette helicopters to Zimbabwe. The ministers were given seven days to react to the letters.While the ministers declined to react to the letters delivered to their respective offices on January 17, 2013, their spokespersons did confirm to Mail & Guardian that arrangements for delivery of the helicopters had been finalised and that the delivery would take place shortly.
According to Willie Spies, legal representative for AfriForum, the organisation is overjoyed that the application was successful. He added that AfriForum will continue to use all legal avenues at its disposal to prevent delivery of the aircraft to Zimbabwe."We have also informed the acting French Ambassador to South Africa in writing of the potential risk for his country in that France may be contravening the arms embargo against Zimbabwe as imposed by the European Union (because) the South African government will now be donating imported French helicopter parts to Zimbabwe," Spies said.In terms of the Act on the National Conventional Arms Control Committee Act 41 of 2002, the NCACC must consider certain principles before a transaction regarding the sale or delivery of military equipment to another country can be authorised. These principles include, inter alia, the human rights record of the particular country.
