Ricnob Suppliers (Private) Limited & Another v Mandizera & Others (HB 262-18, HC 5563/18 X REF HC 1755/18) [2018] ZWBHC 262 (25 October 2018);
RICNOB SUPPLIERS (PRIVATE) LIMITED
and
ALFRED CHINANAYI
versus
MIKE MANDIZERA
And all those claiming title use and occupation through same at
certain piece of land being Wallingford a situate in the district of
Insiza measuring 946.4524 hectares
and
MINISTER OF MINES AND MINERAL DEVELOPMENT
HIGH COURT OF ZIMBABWE
MAKONESE J
BULAWAYO 16 OCTOBER 2018 AND 25 OCTOBER 2018
This was an application for an order for spoliation. The applicants claimed that they had been unlawfully dispossessed of their quiet and peaceful possession of their property by the first respondent. The first respondent contended that he was issued with a prospecting licence by the second respondent on the same land and that he entered the property on the strength of the authority from second respondent. The applicants alleged that the first respondent entered their land by cutting a fence and causing damage to their property.
The court considered whether or not there had been a spoliation and whether the applicants were entitled to relief. The court established that the first respondent unlawfully deprived the first applicant of its possession of the quarry stone site and that this was an unlawful invasion of the property as the land was private property.
The court noted that the first respondent had not raised any of the recognised defences in an action for spoliation. The court found that the first respondent intended to take over the quarry site by forcibly removing them applicants from the quarry site without following due process as he did not possess a court order to justify his intended action.
Accordingly, the court held that the requirements for an order for spoliation had been met and ordered the respondents to return the applicant’s status quo prior to the spoliation.