The minister of home affairs will hear on Monday whether she will have to give reasons why her department should not be compelled to supply information about the deportation of Pakistani national Khalid Mahmood Rashid.
This follows an application by Rashid’s lawyer, Zehir Omar, who on Friday asked the court to compel the minister to comply with the court’s earlier ruling.
The minister had until Monday this week to supply the information, but instead of complying with the order the department on Monday noted its intention to ask for leave to appeal against it.
Advocate Mike Bafilatos, appearing on behalf of the minister, said it did not mean that the minister did not intend complying with the order but only that she did not want to do so until the appeal was resolved.
Judge Justice Poswa ordered the minister early in May to give details about Rashid’s deportation, including the flight number, the names of Pakistani authorities who received him and the place the plane landed.
Khalid has been missing since November.
The Department of Home Affairs said it would ask the court for leave to appeal to approach the Appeal Court in Bloemfontein or a full Bench in the Transvaal Provisional Division to rule on Poswa’s May 15 ruling.
However, on Friday, Omar asked that the court order the minister to give the information notwithstanding the appeal.
Advocate Mike Bafilatos, appearing on behalf of the minister, said he had had little time to study Omar’s application and asked the court to postpone the case to give him a chance to file an answering affidavit.
Poswa said he will on Monday decide whether the minister’s legal team will get a chance to file an opposing affidavit or whether the case is urgent enough to proceed without it.
Rashid’s case has been in and out of court on several occasions since his deportation in November last year.
The Department of Home Affairs says he was legally deported back to Pakistan after it was found that he was illegally in South Africa.
His family, however, claims they have not seen or heard from him since. They said they fear he was handed over to foreign officials and that he might be held in a detention camp. — Sapa