ANCYL's military training - judge to rule
2011-01-31 21:17
Johannes - An application to prevent Defence Minister Lindiwe Sisulu from offering military training to the ANC Youth League was heard in the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria on Monday, AfriForum said.
AfriForum applied for an urgent interdict in September last year when Sisulu and ANCYL president Julius Malema in May announced their plans for the training, AfriForum's lawyer Willie Spies said.
In Sisulu's opposing court documents at the time she denied any training was being planned for political organisations.
The urgent court application was rendered redundant as training which had been planned for September and October 2010 at the naval base in Saldanha was postponed indefinitely, he said.
Sisulu failed to respond to AfriForum's formal requests in terms of the Promotion of Administrative Justice Act to provide reasons for her decision to offer training to political organisations and responded only after court documents had been filed with the High Court.
In her opposing court documents she "suddenly" denied that any training was being planned for political organisations, Spies said.
"It is, unfortunately, part of our political culture for ministers and high-ranking officials to disregard correspondence.
"The only legal remedy that is at the public's disposal in such a case is to appeal to the courts."
Spies said court proceedings on Monday dealt with more than just the costs of a court application. They dealt with the question of whether a minister could simply ignore written requests directed to her in terms of national legislation and get away with it.
Judgment was reserved.
"The judge said he needed some time to think about the situation and said he would let us know once he had made a decision," Spies said.
- SAPA
