SIDE Electricals (Pvt) Ltd, trading as Botha Mine, has filed a constitutional application to block the Mines and Mining Development minister from cancelling its mining certificates.
The move follows a formal complaint that the company submitted inaccurate survey co-ordinates and encroached on a neighbouring mine’s lease.
The application, filed on March 24, 2026, under case number HCH1536/26, seeks to have section 400(1)(c) of the Mines and Minerals Act declared unconstitutional.
The provision empowers the minister to cancel mining rights for contravention of the Gold Trade Act.
Botha Mine’s application responds to a complaint lodged by Freda Rebecca Gold Mine, the legitimate holder of Mining Lease 21 (ML 21).
On February 6, 2026, Freda Rebecca submitted an application to the Mines ministry calling for the cancellation of Botha Mine’s certificates of registration (Numbers 46035 to 46038).
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The ministry acknowledged receipt of the application on the same date.
In its complaint, Freda Rebecca detailed how Botha Mine contravened section 5 of the Gold Trade Act [Chapter 21:03] by submitting co-ordinates that misrepresented the location of its mining blocks.
A survey diagram subsequently drawn by the Mines ministry (Mashonaland Central province) confirmed the discrepancy.
“The respondent has actually provided fraudulent coordinates to the provincial office in violation of paragraph 5 of General Notice 1 of 2025,” Freda Rebecca stated in its application.
The document further alleged that Botha Mine “mischievously submitted fraudulently ‘surveyed’ co-ordinates for Botha 1-4. Those co-ordinates materially deviated from the original registration data and were engineered to shift Botha 1-4 onto portions of ML 21.”
According to court documents, the effect was that the public entered, mined and dealt in gold on ML 21 in the mistaken belief they were operating on Botha Mine’s claims.
Botha Mine is documented to have received 30% of gold proceeds from artisanal miners who believed they were operating legally, while the gold was being extracted from Freda Rebecca’s lawful lease.
Instead of responding directly to the survey evidence and allegations, Botha Mine proceeded to the High Court with a constitutional challenge aimed at disabling the minister’s authority.
In its founding affidavit, signed by finance director Ashley Ziyarura Zulu, Botha Mine argues that section 400(1)(c) infringes on its right to a fair trial, claiming that “allowing the first respondent to cancel a mining right without conviction by a criminal court is an infringement”.
The minister’s power under section 400 is administrative and, by law, requires an investigation and a hearing before any cancellation.
Botha Mine’s filing acknowledges the value at stake, stating that its mining rights are valued at over US$30 million.
Prior to the legal challenge, Freda Rebecca had placed Botha Mine on notice.
In a letter dated February 3, 2026, Freda Rebecca managing director Patrick Maseva-Shayawabaya wrote: “Given the outcome of the survey recently undertaken by the Ministry of Mines and the overwhelming evidence of how you have breached and continue to breach the Gold Trade Act, we place you on notice of our intention to invoke section 400 of the Mines and Minerals Act. We also reserve our right to institute criminal proceedings for fraud against you.”
Freda Rebecca also moved to reassert control over its property.
A public notice dated January 30, 2026, directed all artisanal miners operating on ML 21 to remit payments “ONLY to Freda Rebecca Gold Mine Limited”, explicitly stating that “no payments are to be made to any other person”.
The Mines and Mining Development minister, Freda Rebecca Gold Mine and the Attorney-General are expected to oppose the application.