The Zimbabwean government will approach the High Court in Johannesburg on Monday afternoon in a bid to stop the auction of properties it owns in Cape Town, civil rights group AfriForum said.

The move followed an earlier, "seemingly fruitless", application in the High Court in Pretoria brought by Zimbabwe against a group of farmers, its legal representative Willie Spies said in a statement.

The auction, arranged by German banker KfW Bankengruppe, is scheduled for July 27 and August 10.

Lawyers for the Zimbabwean government brought an urgent application against the farmers scheduled to be heard on August 3.

However a new urgent application, which was served over the weekend, was set to be heard on Monday afternoon.

"The fact that the Zimbabwean government ignored the proceedings instituted against them in February has now created an even bigger problem for the regime.

"Their disregard for legal process seems to be catching up with them."

Spies said the farmers preferred to have the matter dealt with in the High Court in Pretoria next month.

Earlier this month group of farmers demanded the sale of four upscale properties owned by Zimbabwe's government in South Africa.

The proceeds would be used to pay legal fees for a group of white farmers who contested the seizure of their Zimbabwean farms.

The Cape Town properties were worth more than $1-million (about R7.3-million).