Cape Town - Government legal teams on Thursday failed to meet the deadline for supplying opposing affidavits to an application by an international non-governmental organisation to have the multibillion-rand arms deal scrapped, saying they are awaiting an affidavit from an American witness.

This follows the application by Cape Town activist Terry Crawford-Browne on behalf of Economists Allied for Arms Reduction (ECAAR), to the Cape High Court for the cancellation of the deal on the grounds that the government acted illegally and unconstitutionally in going ahead with it.

The government was given until Thursday to oppose the application.

However, they have deferred handing in their affidavits because the case depends, in part, on the evidence of American economics expert Professor Lloyd Dumas, whose sworn statements had not arrived from the United States by Thursday.