Doves Funeral Assurance has taken Zimbabwe Platinum Mine (Zimplats) to court seeking an order to compel the miners to pay $4 million, after the latter allegedly breached a contractual agreement.
BY CHARLES LAITON
Doves, is also seeking an order to compel Zimplats to finalise the implementation of the Zimplats employee funeral scheme and the nullification of an “purported unilateral rescission” of the agreement entered between the parties in October 2013.
According to Doves, the lawsuit against the miners followed a cancellation of an agreement that had been entered between itself and the mine following a successful bidding for a tender to offer funeral schemes to the mine’s 2 087 beneficiaries.
In its declaration filed at the High Court under case number HC4957/14, Doves gave a chronological sequence of events starting from the date when it was invited to participate in a tender for the mine’s scheme.
“It was clear from the invitation to tender in terms of clause 3.1.2, that the successful tenderer would be required to provide a funeral scheme to all defendants’ [Zimplats] employees and the defendant would be bound to implement an employee funeral scheme with the successful tenderer,” Doves submitted.
“On March 20, 2013 the defendant, through its group supplies manager, Relax Masoka, duly advised the plaintiff in writing that the plaintiff [Doves] had been adjudged to be the successful tenderer.”
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Pursuant to being awarded the tender, Doves is said to have been provided with the company’s list of employees by one Kevin Jokonya, which was to be used for enrolling purposes, thereby consummating the agreement between the parties.
Later, Doves said it sent a team to Zimplats’s smelter in Selous and Ngezi mines to enrol the members and they enrolled about 2 087.
“In breach of the agreement between the parties on October 7, 2013, defendant, through its representative Takawira Maswiswi, purported to unilaterally rescind from the agreement between the parties,” Doves said.
“Plaintiff did not accede to defendant’s unilateral attempt to rescind from the agreement between the parties.”
In its response to the lawsuit, Zimplats denied entering into an agreement, saying the tender to offer funeral scheme was subject to a formal written agreement being reached between the parties.
“Defendant further avers that pursuant to the announcement of the tender results, plaintiff and defendant exchanged draft written contracts, which unsigned final draft written contract constitutes a record of the final terms and condition that would have governed the relationship between the parties,” Zimplats said.
The matter is still pending at the High Court.
