Online Reporter
Fidelis Munyoro
Chief Court Reporter
The Supreme Court has dismissed a preliminary objection raised by Samuel Hova in his dispute with his former employer, Petrozim Line (Private) Limited, clearing the way for the continuation of the company’s appeal.
Delivering the judgment, Justice Lavender Makoni, sitting with Justices Antonia Guvava and George Chiweshe, ruled that the appeal remains live and has not been rendered moot by the company’s compliance with a lower court order.
“The dispute at the heart of this appeal has not been rendered academic. The correctness of the court a quo’s order of remittal remains a live and contested issue,” said Justice Makoni, writing the judgment for the court.
Petrozim Line, represented by Advocate Thabani Mpofu, is appealing a decision by the Labour Court, which had set aside the company’s disciplinary proceedings against Mr Hova and ordered a rehearing.
Mr Hova, who is also a trade union leader, appearing in person, argued that the appeal had been overtaken by events since the company had already complied with the Labour Court’s order, making the matter moot.
Justice Makoni rejected this argument, emphasising that compliance with a court order does not necessarily extinguish an appellant’s right to challenge that order.
Instead, she stated, “The existence of a realistic possibility that this court’s judgment could materially affect the legal position of the parties suffices to defeat the contention that the appeal is merely academic.”
The dispute arises from a 2022 disciplinary hearing in which Mr Hova, a former employee of Petrozim Line and president of the Zimbabwe Petroleum & Allied Workers Union, was found guilty of misconduct and dismissed from his job.
Mr Hova successfully challenged the disciplinary proceedings at the Labour Court, which found the process to have been procedurally unfair.
Petrozim Line filed an appeal with the Supreme Court but simultaneously complied with the Labour Court’s order for a rehearing. Mr Hova argued that this compliance rendered the appeal moot.
However, Justice Makoni ruled that the appeal remains significant because a Supreme Court ruling could invalidate the proceedings that followed the Labour Court’s decision.
The court also dismissed Mr Hova’s secondary argument that Petrozim Line had “perempted” its appeal by complying with the Labour Court’s order.
Justice Makoni explained that compliance with a court order does not amount to abandonment of appeal rights, particularly when done to avoid being in contempt of court.
Justice Makoni concluded, “A determination by this Court would have tangible and practical consequences for the parties, including the legal validity of the proceedings that followed the impugned order.”
With the preliminary objection dismissed, the registrar has been directed to set the matter down for a hearing on the substantive appeal. Justices Guvava and Chiweshe concurred.
