Anti-arms deal crusader Terry Crawford-Browne will be in court today to fight an application by finance minister Trevor Manuel to have him sequestrated.

But Crawford-Browne is not only opposing Manuel's application - he wants an apology from the minister and R5 million he says he has forked out in seeking to have the arms deal cancelled.

Crawford-Browne, a former banker and campaigner for bank sanctions against the apartheid regime, has for the past seven years been battling to halt the country's controversial arms deal and to expose what he says is corruption in the arms acquisition process.

The campaign, which more often than not has seen Crawford-Browne a lone crusader, has bankrupted him, and he says that all his assets are gone, mostly spent on pursuing his campaign.

Crawford-Browne says that instead of having "hidden assets", as claimed by the state, all he has is a rusty Fiat Uno he bought years ago for his daughter.

Crawford-Browne was one of the key figures involved in the release of the first document to claim corruption in the arms deal, which was made public by then PAC MP Patricia de Lille.

Many of the claims and people named in that document, which was apparently drawn up by people with links to ANC intelligence, have never been comprehensively investigated. However, Crawford-Browne, in legal documents, argues that his actions were vindicated by the convictions in separate cases of Durban businessman Schabir Shaik and former ANC chief whip Tony Yengeni.

But Crawford-Browne has had less success with the courts. His lengthy court battle against Manuel in the Cape High Court failed. He argued that Manuel went beyond his powers and acted recklessly in signing billion-rand agreements to finance the arms deal, "mortgaging" the South African economy in the process.

This application was dismissed last year with costs and leave to appeal was denied. However, the judgment was given essentially on a technicality: the court found that Crawford-Browne should have challenged the cabinet for deciding on the deal, not Manuel who merely implemented a cabinet decision.

The state's costs stand at just under R1m but Crawford-Browne apparently has no assets.

Earlier this year, Manuel applied to have Crawford-Browne sequestrated - a move Crawford-Browne in responding papers argues is "malicious" because there is no chance of recovery.

The sequestration case is to be heard today in the Cape High Court.

With acknowledgements to Chiara Carter and the Cape Times.