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Legal Monitor Issue 52
Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR)
July 05, 2010

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Workers defeat POSA

A High Court Judge has granted an order that nullifies the police's use of the Public Order and Security Act (POSA) to stop workers' union activities.

Justice Nicholas Mathonsi on Friday awarded an application by the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) to proceed with an event to commemorate the death of 472 workers in one of the country's worst mine disasters in history. Police had relied on POSA - a harsh law systematically used by State security agents to arrest rights groups and activists-to block the ZCTU from conducting the commemorations on two occasions.

The ZCTU was forced to engage Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) to approach the courts after police again used the draconian legislation to block the commemorations for the third time in a month.

But Justice Mathonsi agreed with ZCTU lawyers Lizwe Jamela and Nosimilo Chanayiwa both of ZLHR that police were abusing POSA to stop legitimate worker-related activities. Justice Mathonsi ordered the police to allow last weekend's event to proceed in Kwekwe. Lawyers have described the court's decision as a landmark ruling in the fight for workers' rights.

Justice Mathonsi agreed with ZCTU lawyers' argument that: "The law is clear as enunciated in section 26A of the Public Order and Security Act that the provision relied by the 1st Respondent (Officer commanding police Kwekwe district, Superintendent Madiro) do not apply to my organisation and as such no authority is needed from the police and the commemoration needs to go ahead with or without police's presence."

"Section 26A of the Public Order and Security Act gives exemptions of certain gathering from section 25 which was stated by the 1st Respondent as applying to the planned gathering, the Schedule to the Act state as follows:" Classes of gathering to which section 23, 25, and 26 do not apply: Gatherings- (j) held by a registered trade union for the bona fide trade union purposes for the conduct in accordance with the labor act," read the ZCTU application granted by Justice Mathonsi.

Speaking after the victory, Jamela said: "The labour union had planned to have activities in both Harare and Kwekwe on 12th June to mark the tragedy. They wrote to the police courteously informing them of the planned activity and also requesting police escort, which was supposed to take place on the 5th of June. The police responded by a letter indicating that they were not approving the planned commemoration leading to its postponement to the 26th of June.

"Again the police interfered and indicated that they were not approving the commemoration purportedly by powers vested in POSA. The application is to declare police's actions as unlawful and interdicting the police from interfering as POSA expressly exempts ZCTU from the POSA provisions."

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