Bid to halt arms deal
2001-11-21 11:34
Cape Town - Peace activist Terry Crawford-Browne on Wednesday filed papers
in the Cape High Court in a bid to overturn the country's controversial arms deal.
Respondents in Crawford-Browne's class action include President
Thabo Mbeki and Finance Minister Trevor Manuel.
Speaking at the Cape High Court as he filed the documents,
Crawford-Browne said he was bringing the application on behalf of
poor South Africans.
He said he, together with the NGO, Economists Allied for Arms
Reduction (EAAR), were seeking the nullification of all loan
agreements and guarantees related to the multi-billion rand deal.
"The purpose of that would be to collapse the deal," he said.
"We are only in year two, and the cost of the deal has already
escalated to R66 billion. No-one knows what they will be
(eventually); not even the minister of finance.
"Given the depreciation of the rand over the past 40 years, we
could be looking at R250 billion to R300 billion.
"This means there's no money available for meeting
socio-economic needs in terms of the Bill of Rights, and the result
could well be social anarchy, as is the case in Zimbabwe.
He said he and the EAAR were bringing the application in terms
of Section 38 of the Constitution, in the public interest.
The respondents in the case are: Mbeki; Manuel; the National
Government of the Republic of South Africa: the Speaker of
Parliament, Dr Frene Ginwala; the public protector, Selby Baqwa;
the national director of public prosecutions, Bulelani Ngcuka; and
Auditor General Shauket Fakie.
- SAPA