3 brothers jailed for contempt over house wrangle

Court Reporter

THREE brothers involved in a house dispute with their aunts were this week slapped with a wholly-suspended three month jail term for contempt of court after they defied a court order evicting them from the family house in Tafara, Harare.

The wrangle over the house has now spilled into the High Court with Dr Maria Mafunga and her sisters Shelly and Debra seeking to remove the house from the estate of their late brother William Mafunga, father to the three brothers, claiming the house was fraudulently registered in his name.

They contend the house should instead have been part of the estate of their father, Gande Mafunga, and eventually been inherited by the three sisters as well as their brother.

In an application filed at the High Court, Maria, Shelly and Debra are the plaintiffs while brothers Lionel, Tinashe and Lincoln, plus the Master of High Court and City of Harare, the registering authorities, are listed as defendants.

The brothers were recently evicted from the house, but defied a court order and re-occupied the house, leading to their arrest. 

On Wednesday, they appeared at Harare Magistrates Court and were convicted on their own pleas of guilty to contempt of court charges. They were sentenced to three months imprisonment wholly-suspended for three years on condition of good behaviour.

The brothers had claimed that Dr Maria Mafunga wanted to illegally remove them from the house.

Dr Maria Mafunga and her sisters are seeking a declaratory order that Stand 7082 Tafara Township, Tafara, Harare, does not form part of the assets of the estate of the late William Mafunga under DR No.1987/23.

They also want the court to set aside the cession that gave their brother and now his sons the right to the house and that the cession be declared null and void.

The sisters are also seeking an order directing the City of Harare to cancel the transfer of the house from the late Gande Mafunga to the late William Mafunga and that the house be declared an asset of the estate of the late Gande Mafunga.

They want the court to compel the Master of High Court to set aside the decisions and authorities made, if any, relating to the transfer and an order that the Master reopen the estate of the late Gande Mafunga, and “shall administer the same in accordance with the law”.

They claimed that their father, the late Gande Mafunga, the property and at all material times, they have known the property as their father’s only immovable property. They also argue that they consider the property as their only home. They grew up on the property. Further, they have been in possession of this property since the passing on of their father.

William Mafunga passed on sometime in 2013. And sometime this year, his children, according to Dr Maria, registered their father’s estate, with Lionel being appointed the executor dative of the deceased estate.

Upon becoming aware of these developments, the three sisters carried out a due diligence search with the Master of the High Court to establish what transpired. They discovered that their late father’s estate was allegedly fraudulently registered sometime in 2001 by their now late brother William Mafunga, who went on to transfer the property into his name to the exclusion of other beneficiaries, who in this case were the three sisters, according to trio’s lawyers, Mufari and Paradzai law firm.

“Also, the due diligence search conducted by the plaintiff has reflected that the same DR Number registered for their late father’s estate, i.e. DR H312/01 is also registered for a different estate known as Estate Late Phillimon Maponga,” stated the lawyers in their papers.

A bid by the trio’s lawyers to seek clarity on what transpired has not been given response by either the Master of High Court and City of Harare, prompting the lawsuit. “In light of the above, the late William Mafunga fraudulently changed the cession of title and interest over stand No.7082 Tafara Township, Tafara, Harare, into his name,” said the lawyers.

“In the event that estate late Gande Mafunga DR H312/01, is proven to have taken place, it is in the interests of justice that the said estate be reopened and that it be administered in terms of the law, taking into account all the beneficiaries to the estate.”

The defendants are yet to respond to the lawsuit.