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Legal Monitor Issue 58
Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR)
August 16, 2010

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Magistrate Zuze humbled

Chipinge resident Magistrate Samuel Zuze has been left with egg on his face after a Mutare Magistrate acquitted two white commercial farmers who were accused of impairing the dignity or authority of the court.

The two Chipinge white commercial farmers Trevor Gifford, who is the immediate past president of the Commercial Farmers Union (CFU) and Dawie Joubert were arrested in January in Chipinge and charged with contravening some sections of the tyrannical Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act.

The State alleged that the white farmers contravened Section 182 (1) of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act Chapter 9:23 after they impaired the dignity or authority of the court by insulting Magistrate Zuze and Batsirai Kuweyi, a clerk of court at Chipinge Magistrates Court while they were performing their official duties in their respective offices.

Pertaining to the other charge the two farmers were accused of contravening Section 178 (1) of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act Chapter 9:23 in that they intentionally and physically blocked Kuweyi's way and made a lot of noise in his office.

The State also accused Gifford and Joubert of insulting Kuweyi by shouting obscenities at him.

The farmers were also accused of contravening Section 46 of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act Chapter 9:23 in that they took pictures of court officials in the court building using a Nokia mobile handset.

All these charges arose in January when Gifford and Joubert attempted to serve a High Court order suspending Magistrate Zuze's ruling ordering the eviction of four white commercial farmers from their farms.

Magistrate Zuze had earlier convicted four Chipinge farmers-namely Algernon Taffs of Chirega Farm, Z.F Joubert of Stilfontein, Mike Odendaal of Hillcrest and Mike Jahne of Silverton Farm-for refusing to vacate their properties and fined them $800 each and gave them 24 hours' notice to vacate their homes.

However, his ruling was set aside by an order issued by High Court Judge Justice Samuel Kudya suspending Magistrate Zuze's eviction of the farmers.

But Magistrate Zuze still ordered the arrest of Gifford and Joubert in Chipinge as they attempted to serve the Notices of Appeal as well as the High Court order suspending the eviction of the four farmers on the Clerk of Court in Chipinge.

In an attempt to convict the Chipinge farmers the State lined up five witnesses who included Kuweyi, Eugenia Urawa, a court interpreter, Shebeth Shiripinda, a clerk of court, Magistrate Zuze and Kembo Musekiwa a Superintendent in the Zimbabwe Republic Police to testify against them.

In his testimony Magistrate Zuze, who made a complaint to the police and caused the arrest of the Chipinge farmers stated that Gifford and Joubert were not supposed to have thrown court papers at him. He said the farmers' behaviour was contemptuous. He argued that he was not sitting as a court when the farmers served him with court papers but was just sitting in his chambers.

Magistrate Zuze said his court which he presides over in Chipinge has a standing rule that they don't accept any court processes at 15:45 pm.

But despite all the testimony aimed at nailing Gifford and Joubert, Magistrate Fabien Feshete acquitted the two farmers at the close of the State case after their defence team led by Trust Maanda applied for discharge following arguments that the State had not established a prima facie case against the farmers.

Magistrate Feshete ruled that Magistrate Zuze was served with the court papers by the Chipinge farmers in his personal capacity.

"The office of the Magistracy does not therefore come into play . . . . Moreover Mr Zuze did not see the person who threw papers on his desk. It could be accused 1 or accused 2. The State have therefore failed to establish a prima facie case in this regard," read part of the ruling which was delivered recently.

The Magistrate said the State had also failed to produce a cellphone or a picture during the course of the court proceedings to sustain the charge that the farmers took pictures of the court officials.

"This is a case where an exhibit should have been produced in court. Exhibits form part of real evidence. . . . The accused persons should not be put on their defence to bolster an otherwise weak State case," read the ruling.

Magistrate Zuze is no stranger to controversy. In 2009, the Attorney General (AG)'s Office strongly rebuked him after he grossly misdirected himself in a case in which he revoked a bail order granted to a farm manager whom he later imprisoned for more than two weeks.

During the same year Magistrate Zuze convicted and sentenced Hon. Mathias Mateu Mlambo and Hon Meki Makuyana, the two Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) Members of Parliament whose respective constituencies are in Chipinge.

The two have since been suspended from Parliament by Austin Zvoma, the Clerk of Parliament pending the determination of their appeals in the High Court, although the suspension has also been challenged by Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights acting for the legislators.

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