Maravi

(HERALD) Land case deferred to July 16

Land case deferred to July 16
By Sydney Kawadza

THE Sadc Tribunal yesterday postponed to July 16 the hearing of a case in which 78 white former commercial farmers are seeking to stop the compulsory acquisition of their farms for resettlement in Zimbabwe. The tribunal also reserved judgment in an application in which more than 300 000 beneficiaries of the same land reform programme are seeking to be part of the hearing. The tribunal deferred the case to July after granting the Zimbabwean Government’s legal team an extension to file their arguments. The legal team was given until June 18 to file its papers.

But in a related matter, the tribunal reserved judgment on an application by the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Justice — a progressive grouping of Zimbabwean lawyers representing resettled farmers — who want to be part of the case as it directly affected them.

Legal experts say it would have been awkward for the tribunal to make a ruling on a case of 78 people which would have affected more than 300 000 people and thousands more who are still awaiting resettlement without hearing the arguments of the resettled farmers.

Speaking from Windhoek, Namibia, yesterday, Zimbabwe’s Deputy Attorney-General (Civil Division), Advocate Prince Machaya, said the Government successfully made the application in the morning before judgment was deferred to 2:30pm.

"The tribunal granted the extension when it commenced in the afternoon and we were ordered to file the remaining documents by June 18.

"The hearing of the matter has also been set for a three-day period where it would be heard between July 16 and 18 this year," Adv Machaya said.

He expressed satisfaction with the judgment, adding that the period was more than they had expected.

"We are very satisfied with the extension as we have been granted more time than we expected to complete the papers," he said.

In the intervener application, Mr Farai Mutamangira of Mutamangira, Maja and Associates, representing beneficiaries of the land reform and ordinary Zimbabweans, argued that there were people who were allocated farms and this was done through offer letters from the Government and this group needed to be part of the court proceedings.

In his argument, Mr Mutamangira said no effort was made to publicise the case to the resettled areas by the applicants and the matter had been restricted to those who could read and write.

"No effort has been made to conscientise the respective people who will be affected by the outcome of this court case. Their exclusion is a miscarriage of justice — they deserve to have their day in court," Mr Mutamangira argued.

"Their exclusion is clearly inappropriate; it would be good in the interest of justice that they be joined in the case."

Advocate Jeremy Gauntlet, who appeared for the 78 white commercial farmers, objected to the intervener application which he described as a "hyped application for intervention", adding that the applicants had not "yet assembled a proper application".

"What has not been explained is why this application was brought 15 minutes before closure of business (on Tuesday). It (application) is defective and cannot be entertained. To intervene, as a respondent, is a curiosity. The tribunal does not allow supporters; this is not a football game; this is not a popularity game. It’s a legal matter," Adv Gauntlet said.

Making its ruling, the five-panel tribunal ruled that the application does not comply with the rules and regulations of the tribunal but said it would deliver judgment in due course.

"This court has considered the application and, in fact, has to say that there is no material application, it doesn’t comply with the rules and regulations of this tribunal.

"The judgment will be given in the application in time while considering the main case," said head judge Justice Luis Mondhlane.

Commenting on the judgment, Mr Mutamangira said in an interview that the tribunal had not thrown out the application.

"The tribunal has not dismissed our case; it means that all the documents will have to be submitted to make the intervention material.

"This is the best we could have done within the short period. It’s not a dismissal. We just have to comply by filing the papers immediately and we have no time to waste," Mr Mutamangira said.

The tribunal on March 28 granted the farmers an interim relief against eviction and had ordered the parties to the case to file their arguments by May 6.

The Government, which had failed to file its arguments, wrote to the Registrar of the Tribunal, Justice Charles Mkandawire, seeking an extension to May 30 to do so.

Labels: LAND REFORM, ZIMBABWE

posted by MrK @ 4:44 PM