NCUBE FILES ANOTHER APPLICATION

Opposition Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) leader Welshman Ncube has filed another urgent High Court application in a bid to reclaim the party from selfimposed interim secretary-general Sengezo Tshabangu.

In the application, Ncube wants the courts to overturn a ruling in favour of Tshabangu that declared the terms of office of all party leaders unlawful.

Tshabangu had approached the High Court seeking relief on an urgent basis for a declaration that the terms of office for the CCC office bearers and main organs elected in Gweru expired on May 27, 2024.

He also sought to nullify the decision to expel him from the party, arguing the office bearers' tenures of office had expired.

Tshabangu had dragged party officials Sessel Zvidzai, Concillia Chinanzvava, Gilbert Kagodora, Shepherd Mushonga and the CCC to the High Court.

Ncube argued that Judge President Justice Mary Zimba-Dube delivered a default judgment in the case in favour of Tshabangu over a technicality.

“As more fully appears from Annexure ‘B’, in particular paragraph 35 at page 11 which reads part ‘[t]here being no authority to

defend this application, there is no opposition and the respondent's opposing affidavit is struck out rendering the application unopposed', the main matter in HC 830/25 was deemed unopposed by the applicants and hence the order granted was a default order',” he submitted.

“This basically means that the applicants were deemed to be in default of a notice of opposition even though one had been filed and applicants' counsel appeared in court on set down date and were permitted to fully argue the matter.

“In the circumstances, I submit, as will more fully appear later in this affidavit, that the applicants' default was not deliberate in any way.”

Ncube told the court that he made mistakes when he filed papers for the case because he and his staff were under pressure from other court cases.

“I submit that as will become apparent from the totality of facts set out below, the non-compliance was a technical one and certainly not mala fide and the extent of the delay is not inordinate in any way,” Ncube said.

“The reason for non-compliance was bona fide errors made largely because of the pressure I and the staff with which I worked were under to meet the deadline in the context of the other urgent Supreme Court filings, which we faced between February 27, 2025 and March 5, 2025, the prospects of success on the merits are reasonable and hence there is a good likelihood of the opposition being successful in the main case.”

Tshabangu was quick to react to Ncube's latest application, describing it as “bizarre”.

“That the application is hopeless, it does not require testament,” Tshabangu's spokesperson Nqobizitha Mlilo said.

“This is the first time in the history of human litigation that a judgment given consequential to full pleadings (litis contestation) before a court is said to be a default judgment.

“Even more bizarre is the suggestion that such a judgment is susceptible to being rescinded or is rescindable.

“Those who teach law and are taught law are or should be presumed to be aware of this.” Newsday