|
SA - Drop apartheid cases
29/07/2003 20:50 - (SA)
Pretoria - The South African government has officially asked a US court to dismiss apartheid reparations litigation before it.
In a strongly-worded letter from Minister Penuell Maduna to United States District Judge John E Sprizzo, the South African minister asked Sprizzo, a federal judge, to dismiss two apartheid reparations lawsuits.
The letter and an accompanying nine-page declaration, both dated July 11, urges Sprizzo to abstain from adjudicating in the In Re South African Apartheid Litigation and In Re Khulumani & others cases.
"I understand that under United States law, courts may abstain from adjudicating cases in deference to the sovereign rights of foreign countries to legislate, adjudicate and otherwise resolve domestic issues without outside interference, particularly where the relevant government has expressed opposition to the actions proceeding in the United States and where adjudication would interfere with the foreign sovereign's efforts to address in which it has the predominant interest.
"The government (of South Africa) submits that its interest in addressing its apartheid past presents just such a situation."
The declaration repeats government's opposition to the two class-action court cases. It also repeats the government's assertions that the lawsuits, brought against a number of corporations that did business in South Africa before 1994 under an arcane US law, would hurt the economy and the very people it was meant to help by increasing unemployment and crime.
"If this litigation proceeds, far from promoting economic growth and employment, and thus advantaging the previously disadvantaged, the litigation, by deterring foreign direct investment, and undermining economic stability will do exactly the opposite of what it ostensibly sets out to do."
- SAPA
|
News
