Cape Town - Argument over who should pay the legal bills of former rural development and land reform minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane in the District Six ruling delivered last year, was heard in the Western Cape High Court.

Nkoana-Mashabane who is now Minister in the Presidency for Woman, Youth and Persons with Disabilities brought an application for leave to appeal against the court order (and personal costs order) that was granted against her in August last year, in relation to restitution for the people of District Six.

Helen Ngomane representing Nkoana-Mashabane said they were challenging the court’s findings.

“The minister does not accept the findings, she cannot bear the brunt let’s be fair to her. We are approaching this court on the basis that another court would come to a different conclusion,” Ngomane said.

Nkoana-Mashabane’s heads of arguments stated that the court made an error in granting an order that she should pay the legal cost in her own capacity. It also stated that the court erred in finding that the threshold for a personal cost against a public official is met under circumstances of this matter.