The family of Home Affairs co-minister Kembo Mohadi might soon be dragged to court over contempt of court charges after it allegedly defied a High Court order to remove a fence it had erected on a disputed farm in Beitbridge.
Matshobane Ncube, the lawyer representing six villagers locked in a farm ownership wrangle with the Mohadis, told NewsDay he would file the application soon.
“We have been asked by our clients to file a contempt of court against the Mohadis,” he said. “The clients are sorting out a few things and we will file the application at the High Court.”
If the application succeeds, it would see the minister’s wife, Tambudzani, who is also the Senator for Beitbridge, his son, Campbell Trevor Junior, and two of their employees, Danisa Muleya and Samuel Sibanda, who are the respondents in the matter, being arrested for contempt of court.
On February 9 this year, High Court judge Justice Lawrence Kamocha ordered the Mohadis to immediately remove all locks and a fence which they had installed at the disputed properties at Jopembe Block Farm in Beitbridge.
The judge further ordered them to refrain either themselves or through persons under their control, from placing any cattle or other livestock on the villagers’ plots or from in any way interfering with the farming operations carried out by the villagers or their employees on Plot 1,2,3 and 4 of Lot 9 Jopembe, Beitbridge.
The villagers — Given Mbedzi, Soforia Ndou, Aifheli Nare and Kumbirai Ncube — had approached the court seeking to bar the Mohadis from claiming ownership of the properties.
Police in Beitbridge were also ordered to enforce the court order, but allegedly refused to accompany the deputy sheriff, Nkululeko Mbedzi, to pull down the fence.
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The Mohadis had also caused the arrest of the villagers accusing them of cutting the fence in question.
But on April 30, Gwanda magistrate Innocent Bepura dropped charges of malicious damage to property against them.
In his ruling, Bepura said in view of the facts before the court and Justice Kamocha’s High Court judgment, there was no reason for the villagers to continue on remand.
