adminRichard Muponde Sunday News Correspondent
BULAWAYO businessman Dumisani Mutorera’s nightclub, Club Forty40, which he runs together with his wife, Rosie Mutungwazi, has been ordered to pay over $10 000 to eight former employees who were underpaid and unfairly dismissed last year. The employees won an arbitral award with a total sum of $10 290,96 after an arbitrator, Mr Kurayi Ngwarati, ruled in their favour and ordered their reinstatement without loss of pay and benefits.
However, Club Forty40 defied the arbitral award, leading to the employees approaching the High Court to register the award.
In his judgment which was released last week, Justice Lawrence Kamocha ruled that Club Forty40 should pay the workers the outstanding salaries.
“Whereupon after reading documents filed and hearing Mr Solomon Mguni for the applicants (employees) and Mr Shepherd Chamunorwa for respondent (Club Forty40), it is ordered that the arbitral award in favour of First to Eighth applicants and accompanying schedule be and is hereby registered for enforcement as judgment of this honourable court. Respondent be and is hereby ordered to pay First to Eighth applicants a total sum of $10 290,96 in outstanding wages owing. Respondent be and is hereby ordered to pay the costs of this application,” ruled Justice Kamocha.
Before the employees approached the High Court, Mr Ngwarati had found that indeed the workers were underpaid and five of them, namely Benita Ndlovu, Gugulethu Banda, Cleto Zinyowere, Shupikai Nyamapfumbi and Amon Musekiwa were unfairly dismissed.
“Therefore the respondent is ordered to pay outstanding wages owing to the claimants amounting to $10 290,96 as indicated on the schedule attached to this award. Payment should be made to the claimants 21 days of the receipt of this award. Furthermore, the respondent is ordered to reinstate the dismissed employees to their original positions without loss of pay and benefits as from the date of the purported dismissal to date,” awarded Ngwarati.
“In the event that reinstatement is no longer a tenable option, parties may negotiate for a mutual termination upon failure to agree, any of the parties may approach the undersigned for quantification of damages. I so award,” he added.
In her founding affidavit on behalf of other employees, Banda said after the award was granted their employer refused to pay them.
“In the result this honourable court is therefore confronted with the application for registration of the award as quantified in terms of Sections 98 (14) and (15) of the Labour Act Chapter 28.01 as read with Order 23, Rule 226 sub-rule 1(b) of the High Court Rules (1971),” submitted Banda.
However, Mutorera’s wife, Mutungwazi as the club’s director opposed the application arguing that Club Forty40 had not been given room to present its case.
“Further to that the applicants have not furnished any proof that they were employed by the respondent, that they were underpaid or not paid at all and that five of them were unfairly dismissed. The respondent does not have a record of these employees, disputes that they were its employees and that if they were, they were not unfairly remunerated and or unfairly dismissed. The Honourable Arbitrator ought to have done more to inquire on these issues before making his award,” she declared.
However, after hearing both parties’ arguments, Justice Kamocha ruled in favour of the employees.
Bongani Ndlovu