ZIMBABWEAN chrome miner Symptoms Siwawa, who was facing charges of defrauding a South African businessman of $40 000 in an alleged botched chrome deal, has been acquitted of the charges due to lack of incriminating evidence.
Stephen Chadenga
The State had accused Siwawa and his Spilsat Mining Company of failing to honour their agreement to supply 272 tonnes of chrome to Maruis Bester after the latter had paid $40 000 for the consignment in March 2011.
But Gweru magistrate Pathekile Msipa, who read the ruling on behalf of former provincial magistrate Sithembinkosi Msipa, said the State had failed to prove all the essential elements of fraud.
Msipa said the matter “can best be described as a civil agreement gone wrong because of an impossibility created by the operation of the law”.
Bonwell Balamanja prosecuted.
