High Court

Mar
15
2023

Lesotho's CJ bemoans police impunity & its effect on rule of law

By Carmel Rickard

The frustration of Lesotho’s Chief Justice Sakoane Sakoane at continuing police brutality against ordinary citizens of that country is plainly evident in a new decision. Just as disturbing for him is the fact that police mostly commit these acts with impunity – seldom are they investigated and prosecuted – and the attorney general often fights against complainants if they ever bring a claim for damages, even in the face of completed medical reports that put the matter beyond doubt.

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Here’s how the CJ began his decision on the December 2015 assault of Khabanyane: ‘In this case, the hydra-headed monster of police brutality has reared its ugly head and claimed the scalp of a person with a visual disability.’

He also noted that Khabanyane reported the dawn assault later the same day and the officer commanding at the Mafateng police station gave him a medical form in which a doctor duly completed his findings and comments on the injuries sustained by Khabanyane.

Mar
01
2023

Magistrate wins defamation case against accused

By Carmel Rickard

A Namibian magistrate has been awarded damages of N$20 000 after an accused, appearing in court before her, handed up a document in which he defamed her. Among other claims, the document, hand-written by the accused, said she was paid by the family of the complainant in the criminal case before her. The magistrate then brought a defamation action in the high court. Now she has won her case and the judge who heard the matter ordered that if the man who defamed her didn’t make her a written apology, the damages award would jump to N$30 000.

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Oshakati magistrate, Helen Ekandjo, has more than 20 years’ experience on the bench. She might even have thought that she had seen it all – but when David David appeared before her in October 2021, it sparked a novel situation, one that has ended up in the high court with a successful defamation action.

Feb
16
2023

Funeral business loses bid to enforce contract, claim damages, from Zim mining group

By Carmel Rickard

Doves Funeral Assurance hoped to persuade the high court in Harare that it had a valid agreement with Zimplats to provide an employee funeral scheme, and that after Zimplats cancelled, it should pay the funeral company more than US $4m in damages for lost profit. But Judge Amy Tsanga wasn’t convinced.

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At the end of 2012, Zimbabwe Platinum Mine (Zimplats) called for tenders to provide an employee funeral scheme for its staff. Several months later, in March 2013, Zimplats wrote to one of the tenderers, Doves Funeral Assurance, to say it had won the tender.

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