Update on US ARMS TRANSFERS

UPDATE:

After SALC published the press release below on the morning of 27 July 2026, SALC’s attorneys received the notice of intention to oppose from the Respondent’s attorneys. 

Johannesburg, 27 July 2026 – The Southern Africa Litigation Centre (SALC) notes that the deadline for the Respondents to file a notice of intention to oppose SALC’s application to suspend or cancel South African arms export permits relating to the United States of America (US) has passed without any notice being filed. 

SALC filed the application in the North Gauteng High Court (Pretoria) on 3 June 2026. The application argues that the National Conventional Arms Control Committee (NCACC) has a statutory duty to suspend or cancel permits that facilitate arms exports to the US. The Respondents were required, under the Uniform Rules of Court, to indicate whether they intended to oppose the application within a prescribed period that ended on 25 June 2026. Since that period has expired, SALC has secured a hearing date on the unopposed roll for 3 December 2026 when the matter will be heard in the absence of opposing papers. 

Anneke Meerkotter, Executive Director at SALC, said: 

“The absence of opposition does not resolve the legal issues or the question of enforcing the statutory duty by the NCACC, but it means that the facts and arguments placed before the Court by SALC have not been answered by the Respondents. Enforcing the law is the only thing that stands between a rules-based order and a world where might simply makes right. As the Respondents choose not to respond, only the Respondents will be able to answer questions on why they remain silent. However, you cannot remain silent and continue business as usual and permit exports to countries violating international law.” 

SALC emphasises the importance of this matter in holding the most powerful accountable. SALC continues to seek the suspension and/or cancellation of all impugned permits. At a time when arms transfers to States accused of aggression and international law violations remain largely unchecked and threaten the international order, this case tests whether domestic courts can hold governments to the rules-based international order they helped build, or whether that order will continue to erode, permit by permit.  

Background 

Procedural History: SALC’s application prescribed a 15-day period to file a notice to oppose, which ended on 25 June 2026. As none of the Respondents filed a notice or an answering affidavit, SALC moved the matter on the unopposed roll and secured a hearing date for 3 December 2026. The Respondents in this matter are the Chairperson of the NCACC, Minister of Defence and Military Veterans and the President of the Republic of South Africa.  

Factual analysis: SALC’s litigation is grounded in the extensive body of evidence and international law analysis relating to the following situations: 

• January 2025: U.S. lifts hold on arms exports to Israel 
• June 2025:  Attacks on nuclear facilities in Iran  
• January 2026:  Capture of Venezuelan President and his wife 
• February 2026:  Attacks on Iran 

All the situations above resulted in accusations of international law violations, such as complicity in genocide, violation of Article 2(4) of the UN Charter, committing the crime of aggression and war crimes. Taken together, these violations created a pattern of escalation and manifest an ongoing threat to international peace and security, a threshold that triggers the obligation by the NCACC to suspend arms export permits under the NCAC Act.  

The latest reports by the NCACC illustrate that South Africa exported arms to the United States throughout 2025. Numerous requests by SALC and its legal representatives to suspend/cancel such permits or enquires whether the government intends to make a decision in that regard have remained without any substantive answer.  

Regulatory Framework: The NCACC is the statutory gatekeeper of South Africa’s arms exports established under the National Conventional Arms Control Act. It consists of various Ministers and Deputy Ministers, such as the Minister in the Presidency (Chairperson), Minister of Foreign Affairs or Minister of Defence. Before any South African arms company can export arms, it must obtain a permit to do so. While the NCACC exists to prevent South Africa’s defence industry from slipping back into the shadows of the apartheid era, the practice of exports over the last years paints a seriously concerning picture of arms exports to countries like Saudi Arabia, the UAE, or Myanmar.  

Under section 14(3)(a) of the NCAC Act, the NCACC must “cancel, amend or suspend the permit if it is in the interest of maintaining and promoting international peace or avoiding repression and terrorism.”