Labour union Solidarity said on Monday that its application to force Denel to pay over the unemployment insurance and taxes deducted from employees’ salaries will be heard in the Pretoria High Court on Tuesday.

Three weeks ago, Solidarity served urgent court documents to force struggling state-owned arms maker Denel to pay the unemployment insurance levy and taxes deducted from employees' salaries. 

Denel had announced that it was only able to pay a portion of its employees’ salaries for June and July. Solidarity also launched a process in terms of the Companies Act to investigate former Denel board members for mismanagement and corruption with a view to possible prosecution.

"The victims of reckless mismanagement and state capture are real people with families and emotions," Solidarity chief executive Dirk Hermann had said in a statement then.

"Employees’ salaries are used to subsidise cash flow. However, Denel went even further and withheld compulsory income tax payments to the South African Revenue Service, even though these payments were indicated on the employees' pay slips."

According to Anton van der Bijl, head of Solidarity's legal services, the legal steps taken by Solidarity are two-fold, and they also address the statutory mandatory payments that are indicated on employees' pay slips but never been paid over to the South African Revenue Service (SARS).