TWO former Zuva Petroleum employees whose case has triggered a flurry of job cuts have approached the Constitutional Court challenging the Supreme Court ruling that employers can terminate employment contracts by simply giving them three months’ notice.
By Staff Reporter
Chief Justice Godfrey Chidyausiku and four other judges handed down the judgment last Friday, which has seen companies dismissing workers en-massé.
However, the two former managers, Don Nyamande and Kingstone Donga, said the ruling was misplaced.
“The Supreme Court erred in law and infringed Section 3 of the Constitution in reviving and/or resurrecting a common law rule that last had application more than 30 years ago without first developing the common law under Section 176 of the Constitution of Zimbabwe, 2013,” the appeal, filed by Lovemore Madhuku of Matsikidze and Mucheche law firm yesterday, read.
They argued that the Supreme Court’s conclusion that section 12B of the Labour Act (Chapter 28:01) does not prohibit termination of employment on notice is a result of failure to take into account the provisions of paragraph 10 of the Sixth Schedule to the Constitution of Zimbabwe, 2013 as read with Section 46(2), 326 and 327 of the Constitution.
The two said the Supreme Court erred in law in not applying Section 5 of Statutory Instrument 15 of 2006 that prohibits termination by an employer on notice.
They said the judgment was an infringement of Section 56 of the Constitution of Zimbabwe 2013.
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The two submitted the Supreme Court acted beyond the jurisdiction granted to it in terms of Section 169 of the Constitution of Zimbabwe in basing its judgment on a matter not decided by the Labour Court.
