ZBC FAILS TO EVICT FORMER WORKERS

The High Court has struck off Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC)’s application to evict its former employees from Hatley House flats, ruling that the broadcaster unlawfully consolidated three separate lawsuits without court approval in violation of procedural rules.

Court documents reveal ZBC filed three distinct eviction suits between 2018 and 2020 against different groups of occupants at 27 Josiah Tongogara Avenue.

When some defendants contested the claims, the broadcaster unilaterally merged the cases into one summary judgment application — a move the judge declared “fatally defective”.

“The failure by litigants to comply with the rules of court is common occurrence,” Justice Christopher Dube-Banda wrote, rejecting ZBC’s argument that it is a permissible “composite application”.

The judgment clarified: “A composite application refers to a single application that combines multiple distinct, but related, requests for relief . . . This is not what ZBC did.”

The court dismissed ZBC’s attempt to use Rule 7 — which allows minor procedural exceptions — to salvage its case.

“Rules of court serve a purpose,” the judgment stated, quoting precedent.

“They are not to be slavishly followed for the sake of it, but they ought not to be flouted without sanction.”

All respondents successfully argued that the consolidation violated their right to oppose merger of the cases under Rule 34.

“Such a right cannot be trammelled for no good measure,” the judgment noted.

Justice Dube-Banda ordered ZBC to pay costs, applying the standard principle that “costs follow the event”.

Court records show the respondents were represented by Jessie Majome & Co (first to fourth respondents) and Tendai Biti Law (fifth to ninth respondents), while Mushuma Law Chambers acted for ZBC.

Legal analysts say the ruling forces ZBC to either refile separate eviction suits or properly apply for consolidation — processes that could add years to the litigation. Newsday

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