The civil rights organisation AfriForum successfully stopped the government’s intended R50 million donation to the Cuban government. This decision was made by the Pretoria High Court, after AfriForum submitted a review application on 15 May 2023 to stop the unlawful donation by the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO).

In 2022 AfriForum obtained an urgent interdict to prevent DIRCO from donating the R50 million to the Cuban government. The government’s attempt to appeal was dismissed. In this review application, AfriForum asked for the donation to be set aside, that the decision made by the National Treasury to approve the donation be set aside, and the decision to send the money may not be allowed, all with legal costs. Furthermore, any future donation to Cuba may not be allowed without parliamentary approval as written in the organisation’s request.

The South African government is in a serious financial crisis and cannot afford to irrationally donate such an exorbitant amount of money. The blurred lines between the actual amount of the donation reveal the importance of stopping this ludicrous donation.

“A country with a struggling economy and government on the verge of running out of money cannot hand out tens of millions to its friends. It is outrageous to donate this amount of money under the current socio-economic conditions,” says Charné Mostert, Campaign Officer at AfriForum.