Is South Africa's highest court "set to free the continent from the new world order and the central bank" when they issue a decision on a case filed by Ricardo Maarman on September 27, 2021? No, that's not true: This headline prematurely states that a decision is imminent when the court has not even decided whether or not to take the case. It remains to be seen if the court will accept the application for direct access -- which it has already denied once.
While this type of application is provided for under the South African Constitution, it is only used in very limited circumstances, according to Heinz Klug, a law professor with a background in South African law.
The claim appeared as the title of a video published on BitChute by SonOfEnos on September 30, 2021, titled "SOUTH AFRICA'S HIGHEST COURT SET TO FREE THE CONTINENT FROM THE NEW WORLD ORDER & THE CENTRAL BANK" (archived here). The video, originally from the website showusthevirus.info, was captioned by SonOfEnos on BitChute. The caption opened:
This is the biggest case in the world right now. Not only are the People of South Africa seeking a ruling to hold their President and Parliament liable for the damages inflected by the Globalist's Covid-Crime Against Humanity, but they are also seeking a ruling that will liquidate their Central Bank in order to pay damages suffered by the People.
Where South Africa goes, so does the entire Continent. This victory will free the People from the Debt-Slavery imposed by the Central Bank fiat-currency system, establish a gold-backed dollar, eliminate corrupt political parties, and establish Africa as the home base from which to begin the Nuremberg 2.0 trials for the Crime Against Humanity that's been inflicted upon the entire world.
Users on social media only saw this title, description and thumbnail:
South Africa's Highest Court Set To Free The Continent From The New World Order & The Central Bank
The video's captioning on BitChute finished:
This could be the big breakthrough event that the world has been praying for. If the South African Constitutional Court was completely corrupted as the rest of the world, this case would never have gotten to where it is.
Please share, because this is the ruling that will break the back of the New World Order
This fact check is not about the details of Maarman's case, only the false claim that the court is set to take action.
The 18-minute-long video features Maarman announcing that on September 27, 2021, he has filed a case, #CCT 299/21, with the Constitutional Court of South Africa. He describes the details of his case, which he says he is also filing on behalf of more than 8,800 South African people who signed a petition. At the 1:17 mark he says:
The case that we have brought to the Constitutional Court is against the president of South Africa, the South African parliament and the South African Reserve Bank. Now, what has the president done wrong? Why have we brought a case against him? Well, the president heard claims made by the Chinese government that there was a virus that broke out in Wuhan and subsequently the World Health Organization has declared an international or global pandemic. He followed suit. He declared a national disaster in South Africa. What he has done wrong here is he did not confirm the claims that was made by the Chinese government or the claims that was made by the World Health Organization as he should have done before he imposed a lockdown on the South African people. What the president should have done was to send scientists to China and to ask the Chinese government to provide a pure sample of the SARS-CoV-2 virus separated and isolated from all other contaminants and substances.
Maarman's video thumbnail offers links to the website showusthevirus.info where the petition, this and other videos, and court documents are presented along with the 81-page pdf document of the filing of Case No. 299/21 to the Constitutional Court. It should be noted that the clickbait headline on this video republished on Bitchute does not appear to be connected with the showusthevirus.info website or Maarman himself.
Lead Stories reached out to the Constitutional Court by email and received a reply on October 6, 2021, from Mmabatho Ngobeni, the acting registrar. She forwarded a copy of the founding affidavit and notice of motion documents and wrote:
Please note that this matter is still pending no Directions or Order have been issued.
On October 7, 2021, Lead Stories reached out by email to someone familiar with South African Constitutional Court procedures: Heinz Klug, originally a law professor at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg and now Evjue-Bascom Professor of Law at the University of Wisconsin. We asked him about the legal status of this case in the South African courts. He explained that typically cases move up through the courts by the regular appeals process, from the High Court to the Supreme Court of Appeal to the Constitutional Court. He wrote:
Direct Access to the Constitutional Court is provided for in the Constitution but the court will only accept a direct application under very limited circumstances, and it does not seem to me that this would be so in this case.
Maarman had originally started at the top, requesting direct access to the Constitutional Court on February 26, 2021. He explains his reasoning at the 1:10 mark in this video. Ultimately the court decided not to grant direct access. Maarman was then able to approach the High Court with his case. The high court ruled that this is not an urgent matter and dismissed the case on May 27, 2021.
Now the case has again been filed with the Constitutional Court, which does not meet until the 4th Term session begins on November 2, 2021. The Court roll for the one-month-long session of the term is published in a Word Document accessible from this page on the Constitutional Court website. Case No. CCT 299/21 is not listed in the roll.
