Expert slams Zuma and MK Party’s bid to have SABC stop referring to 7th administration as GNU

JOHANNESBURG - A legal expert has slammed an urgent court bid by former President Jacob Zuma and the uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) Party calling for the SABC to stop using the phrase "Government of National Unity" in reference to the seventh administration.

In papers filed in the Johannesburg High Court earlier in July, Zuma and the MK Party want the public broadcaster’s refusal to stop using the term declared unlawful and unconstitutional.

Legal analyst, Dr Llewelyn Curlewis, has labelled the bid "ridiculous" and "nonsensical", saying it's an abuse of process.

"I would not be surprised if the presiding officers or the judges that attend to his application consider a specialised penalty - in other words, a specialised costs order, de bonis propriis, if you ask me - against not only the applicants but even their legal practitioners, lawyers that advised them to consider and bring such an application."

Curlewis said that the court shouldn’t hesitate to take a firm stance and call the applicants out for clogging up the court roll.

He further labelled it "futile", highlighting that President Cyril Ramaphosa, as its leader, has described the current administration as a Government of National Unity, and believes that at its core, the application is nothing more than a publicity stunt.

The SABC has signalled its intent to oppose the application.