STAFF WRITER
MDC Alliance Hwange Central Constituency legislator Daniel Molokele and party Matabeleland North provincial secretary general Dalumuzi Khumalo, have been dragged to court by a party security officer who is resisting eviction from party owned house.
According to the court papers filed at the Hwange magistrate courts yesterday, the applicant, Cleopas Ngwenya who is employed as a provincial security officer by the MDC Alliance argues that Molokele and Khumalo had no locus standi to evict him from a party house.
The house which Ngwenya claims has been his home for the past ten years is located in the coal mining town’s Empumalanga suburb.
In his founding affidavit, Ngwenya cited Khumalo and Molokele cited as first and second respondent respectively.
“On the 16th of May 2021, I received an SMS through my cell phone from the 1st respondent instructing me to remove my property and vacate from house number 650 Empumalanga to pave way for the 2nd respondent. Further, the 1st respondent prior to his unofficial SMS, has never made a formal eviction letter or notice. In any case, the 1st respondent has no locus standi to evict the applicant from the premises as the said premises are MDC-Alliance property and not his own property,” Ngwenya said.
As a party provincial security officer, Ngwenya who is a self-actor in the case said he was entitled to reside in the house, a decision which he said was done at national level and not provincial.
He further argued that he duly took effective occupation of MDC-Alliance house, 650 Empumalanga, upon entering into an employment contract with the then MDC led by the late Morgan Tsvangirai.
“If the 1st respondent is acting on behalf of the MDC-Alliance political party which I doubt very much, then he ought to know that I have worked for the party for almost 10 years of which the party owes me outstanding salaries and terminal benefits. Section 13 of the Labour Act clearly states that failure to pay terminal benefits is an unfair labour practice and cannot be condoned. It is viewed with such seriousness by the lawgiver that it is also a criminal offence.”
Ngwenya further noted: “The respondents have no right or lawful excuse whatsoever to evict me from the MDC-Alliance’s office which is my place of work. I submit further that the respondents’ action of taking the law into their own hands should be frowned upon by the court by granting this order.”
