The ruling could have direct implications for South Africa's arms exports to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, which are accused of committing war crimes in Yemen.

The Gauteng Division of the High Court in Pretoria on Friday, 19 July, set aside a decision by the National Conventional Arms Control Committee (NCACC) to authorise arms sales to war-torn Myanmar, in an order that could have wider implications for South Africa's weapons trade.

"The NCACC's decision(s), purportedly taken during the fourth quarter of 2021, to authorise the issue of an export permit (or permits) pertaining to the transfer of controlled items to Myanmar, is/are reviewed and set aside," said acting Judge Mentz in her ruling.

The court's ruling pertains to an application brought by the Southern Africa Litigation Centre (Salc), represented by Lawyers for Human Rights (LHR), in October 2022, seeking the review and setting aside of permits that were granted by the NCACC to facilitate arms transfers to Myanmar.

Salc argued that South Africa exported arms to Myanmar between 2017 and 2021, "despite having knowledge of the grave human rights violations, potential violations of the Genocide Convention and a military coup".

Such arms transfers, Salc argued, violated provisions of the National Conventional Arms Control (NCAC) Act and international law.

Salc, in its application before the high court, further requested an order requiring the NCACC to suspend...