DW judicial manager gets reprieve

By Martin Kadzere
THE High Court has dismissed an application in which Elgate Investments, the majority shareholder in David Whitehead Textiles Limited, was seeking the removal of the company’s provisional judicial manager, Mr Winseley Militala.
The court ruling came shortly before a creditors’ and shareholders’ meeting, at which it was agreed that the period for the judicial management would be extended indefinitely.
This was designed to allow Mr Mili- tala to prepare his full report on DW affairs.
During the meeting, Mr Militala presented his preliminary report.
Elgate, which owns 51 percent of the textile group, had applied to the High Court for Mr Militala’s ouster over his US$12 million security bond, which had been withdrawn.
Mr Gerald Mlotshwa, representing Mr Militala, described the meeting as “fruitful”.
“The High Court ruling came shortly before the meeting in which Elgate’s application to remove the provisional judicial manager was dismissed to allow him to prepare a comprehensive report on the company’s affairs and the way forward,” said Mr Mlotshwa.
“It was also interesting that all parties (the shareholders, creditors and judicial manager) agreed to work together constructively for the best interests of the company and employees, in particular.”
Mr Mlotshwa said the Master of the High Court, Mr Charles Nyatanga, categorically denounced any actions which might push the company into premature insolvency declarations.
He said Mr Nyatanga urged that a solution be found to avoid the company’s collapse.
The creditors first met on February 2, but the meeting was postponed when it emerged that some shareholders and creditors had not received the report on DW affairs from Mr Militala.
On Tuesday, Mr Nyatanga had indicated that the meeting would not be held in the absence of the High Court ruling.
David Whitehead was first put under the judicial management of Mr Cecil Madondo in May 2005 before the management order was cancelled in May 2008.
The former blue-chip company, which delisted from the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange in January last year, has of late been struggling due to an unsustainable wage bill, continuous machinery breakdowns and endless labour disputes, among other challenges.
The company was the largest textile manufacturing firm in Zimbabwe, with nearly 3 000 workers.
Between 1950 and 2000, DW expanded rapidly to become the largest textile company in the country. It was internationally renowned for its quality and gained a fine reputation both locally and in export markets.
Before 2002, the company was part of Lonrho plc, a large manufacturing and trading conglomerate in Africa.