From the SA Press Association
Judgment will be handed down in the High Court in Pretoria on Tuesday in an urgent application by Khulubuse Zuma to have claims of over R1.5 billion against Aurora Empowerment Systems set aside.
Zuma’s court bid could hinder efforts by liquidators to hold the directors of Aurora responsible for the apparent stripping of assets at the mines in Springs and Orkney.
The case brought by the liquidators was due to be heard on March 23.
Zuma claimed that the liquidators had neglected their duties.
On Monday, the court heard that the purpose of Zuma’s application was to muddy the waters of an upcoming court case against the company’s bosses.
“The purpose of this application is to muddy the waters of an already complicated matter… and to lead to a postponement of the main matter,” John Walker, for the liquidators of Pamodzi gold mine, said.
Zuma’s lawyer Griffiths Madonsela said his client had gone out of his way to save the mines and had suffered financially as a result.
He argued that the claims made against Aurora bosses were “disputed” and “highly contested”.
Proceedings were delayed when Madonsela arrived late, and soon after starting had to be adjourned because he had not brought copies of his heads of argument.
General secretary of the Congress of SA Trade Unions Zwelinzima Vavi also attended the court proceedings, electing not to attend the union’s central executive committee meeting.
He tweeted before the proceedings: “Instead I will join the court proceedings in Pretoria in solidarity with mineworkers abandoned by Aurora bosses years ago.”
In 2009, Aurora was appointed by liquidators to manage the mines in Springs and Orkney.
However, the company instead allegedly stripped the mines of infrastructure and also left hundreds of employees without pay and surviving on handouts.
