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Citation
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Judgment date
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| June 2007 |
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A wife cannot resist ejectment after her husband sells sole‑name matrimonial property unless third‑party collusion is proven.
Property law – Matrimonial home – Sale by husband of property registered in his sole name – Wife’s remedies personal, subordinate to husband’s real rights – Third‑party collusion to defraud required to resist ejectment.
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28 June 2007 |
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Decree of divorce granted for irretrievable breakdown; limited 12-month maintenance and specified asset division ordered.
Family law – divorce on grounds of irretrievable breakdown – separation and absence of intimacy as indicators of breakdown – ancillary relief: limited post-divorce maintenance; division of matrimonial property; maintenance/servicing of vehicle.
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19 June 2007 |
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Proceedings instituted in the name of a non-existent corporate plaintiff are null and void; substitution cannot validate them.
Civil procedure - misdescription of parties - substitution versus amendment - institution of action by non-existent juristic person - void ab initio - locus standi (see Stewart Scott Kennedy v Mazongororo Syringes).
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19 June 2007 |
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Plaintiff’s pleading lacked essential elements of fraud and negligence, so the exception was upheld and the claim dismissed with costs.
Civil procedure – exception for failure to disclose cause of action; Fraud – misrepresentation requires false statement, knowledge or intent to deceive and inducement causing detriment; Negligence – pure economic loss requires pleaded duty of care and particulars of breach; Pleadings – vagueness and embarrassment; Amendment – prior opportunity to cure defects.
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19 June 2007 |
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Conviction based solely on uncorroborated, unwarned accomplice evidence (and uncountered allegation of police coercion) cannot stand.
Criminal law – accomplice evidence – requirement of corroboration under s270 of the Criminal Procedure and Evidence Act; failure to warn an accomplice – uncorroborated accomplice evidence unsustainable; unchallenged allegation of police coercion undermines prosecution; s35 High Court Act – Attorney‑General’s notice to disallow convictions and allow appeals in chambers.
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13 June 2007 |
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A subcontracted agent was not liable where the bill of lading granted a lien and excluded liability for delay and consequential loss.
Contract law – C.I.F. contract and bill of lading – carrier's exclusion clauses and lien – privity and subcontractor liability – delict v contract – damages for loss of profits
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12 June 2007 |
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Application to compel electoral commission to hold Harare local elections dismissed due to unfinished ward boundaries risking disenfranchisement.
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12 June 2007 |
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Conviction unsustainable where movement permits did not lawfully apply to goats and sheep and forfeiture was incompetent.
Animal Health Act – movement permits apply only to animals specified by Minister/regulations; goats and sheep excluded – conviction unsustainable where State fails to rebut accused’s account; forfeiture of livestock incompetent; SPCA expenses payable by Minister.
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12 June 2007 |
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Absolution granted where plaintiffs’ evidence was unreliable and vendor’s evidence, central to the dispute, was not called.
Property dispute; absolution from the instance; sufficiency and credibility of plaintiff’s evidence; importance of vendor’s evidence; documentary proof of prior sale.
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5 June 2007 |
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A tenant’s timely written acceptance of a landlord’s sale letter created a binding contract; damages awarded when transfer made to a third party.
Contract law – offer and acceptance – landlord’s letter to sitting tenants construed as offer; revocation of offer – acceptance communicated before withdrawal; specific performance vs damages – transfer to third party already effected; property law – sale of sectional title unit.
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5 June 2007 |
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Leave to execute pending appeal refused despite weak appeal prospects because execution would defeat the appellant’s right to appeal.
Civil procedure – Leave to execute pending appeal – Discretion under South Cape factors – prospects of success – appeal right versus creditor’s prejudice – new point on currency not pleaded at trial and not readily introducible on appeal.
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5 June 2007 |