On Tuesday 17 May 2011, the Constitutional Court will hear a case in which the Mail & Guardian continues in its effort to force the president to release a report written by judges Sisi Khampepe and Dikgang Moseneke on the 2002 presidential elections in Zimbabwe.
The judges observed the elections at the request of former president Thabo Mbeki. The M&G requested a copy of the report from the presidency in June 2008 under the Promotion of Access to Information Act (PAIA) but this request was denied.
The Presidency argued that it was not obliged to release the report on the ground that it would reveal information supplied by Zimbabwean government officials in confidence. The M&G maintain that, although several years had passed since the election, the report might provide information about whether the elections were free and fair, as South Africa at the time declared they were. This had a bearing on both the legitimacy of Mugabe’s presidency and the 2011 Zimbabwe presidential elections.
In May 2009, the North Gauteng High Court granted an order compelling the president to make the report public. The Supreme Court of Appeal rejected an appeal against the High Court order by the Presidency, which has now applied for leave to appeal to the Constitutional Court.