Amalgamated Motor Corporation v Danford Chamwarura

### Preamble
IN THE LABOUR COURT OF ZIMBABWE
JUDGMENT
LC/H/208/2014
HARARE, 25 MARCH 2014
CASE NO
JUDGMENT NO LC/H/208/2014
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IN THE LABOUR COURT OF ZIMBABWE	  JUDGMENT NO LC/H/208/2014

HARARE, 25 MARCH 2014 &			            CASE NO LC/H/448/2011

11 APRIL 2014

In the matter between:

AMALGAMATED MOTOR CORPORATION				  APPLICANT

Versus

DANFORD CHAMWARURA						 RESPONDENT

Before The Honourable L Kudya		:	Judge

For the Applicant		B K Mataruka	   (Legal Practitioner)

Respondent in Person

KUDYA J:

This judgment concerns a matter which has a sad and long history of it being dealt with piecemeal in the sense that it has had more than one judgment handed down on it based on its technical niceties of compliance with the rules in one respect or the other. Resultantly the merits of the main appeal have not been attended to yet the matter has been enrolled more than six times since 2012 to date all on technical niceties thus creating unnecessary backlog for the Labour Court.

At the time of writing of the instant judgment the court had to call the parties to appear before it and make oral submissions on the application for condonation of the late filing of a founding affidavit by the employer and also the rescission of judgment which had also been struck off in 2013.

The court had dismissed the application when it was placed before it on 12 March 2014 but after letter enquiries by the employer as to whether it could regularise the position by clarifying what application indeed it had before the court, the court deemed it prudent to set aside the 12 March 2014 order and hear the oral submissions which then gave rise to the instant judgment.

It is worth noting that whilst it is imperative that court rules be observed by the parties where such observance becomes a stumbling block to the conclusion of matters on the merits as is now happening in the instant case then such slavish adherence to the rules becomes of no force or effect. All it would thus do would be to clog the courts unnecessarily and waste time for other matters to be dealt with.

In the light of the above the court has decided to adopt the approach that the background of the matter and the interests of justice dictate that the matter be concluded on the merits once and for all at the Labour Court. For that reason the court accordingly condones all the instances where the rules have not been adhered to properly by both parties and order that the matter be concluded on the merits.

IT IS ORDERED THAT:

Application for condonation of late filing of the founding affidavit by the employer in the rescission case be and is hereby allowed. In the same spirit the rescission of judgment is allowed so that matter can be concluded on the merits. Judgments of 12 March 2013 and main default judgment of 30 January 2013 are also set aside.

The registrar is directed to set the matter down on the merits on a date mutually agreeable to the parties.

Each party bears own costs.

Gill, Godlonton & Gerrans, applicant’s legal practitioners