THE High Court in Bulawayo has dismissed an application by a Bubi woman seeking to nullify an offer letter issued to a man occupying a disputed 120-hectare resettlement plot, ruling that she failed to prove the allocation was fraudulent.
In a judgment delivered by Bulawayo High Court judge Justice Evangelista Kabasa, the court threw out an application filed by Lillian Mahlangu, who had approached the court together with the executor of her late husband’s estate and another family member, seeking to reclaim Subdivision 20 Hambakahle in Bubi District, Matabeleland North.
They cited the landowner, Melusi Mahlangu, the Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development ministry, Master of the High Court and Bubi Rural District Council as respondents. However, the minister, the Master of the High Court and Bubi RDC did not oppose the application and abided by the court’s decision.
The applicants wanted the court to cancel an offer letter issued to Melusi in July 2010 and declare Lillian the rightful occupier of the land, arguing that the property originally belonged to her late husband, Richard. They also sought an order compelling the ministry to issue a new offer letter in Lillian’s name.
According to court papers, Lillian told the court that she had lived on the farm with her husband since the 1960s. She also argued that the land was formally registered in Richard’s name through a Bubi Rural District Council occupancy certificate issued in 2005.
She alleged that Melusi was only allowed to stay on the property out of family generosity and later falsely presented himself to authorities as the lawful occupier in order to obtain an offer letter.
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“The 1st respondent approached the relevant authority and falsely presented himself as the lawful occupier,” the applicants argued.
The dispute escalated after Richard’s death in 2005, with the applicants accusing Melusi of being abusive and attempting to evict them from the farm.
The applicants further argued that the respondent’s occupancy certificate, stamped in 2022 despite the offer letter allegedly having been issued in 2010, raised suspicions over the legitimacy of the allocation.
However, Melusi opposed the application and raised several preliminary objections, including that the High Court lacked jurisdiction because the dispute had been referred to the Zimbabwe Land Commission.
He maintained that he was the lawful occupier by virtue of a valid A2 offer letter issued by the government in 2010.
In dismissing the application, Justice Kabasa ruled that the applicants had failed to prove that the offer letter was fraudulently obtained.
“The papers before the court show that the 1st respondent holds an offer letter which was duly issued by the relevant authority,” said the judge.
“The offer letter gives the 1st respondent the right of occupation that the court has a duty to protect.”
Justice Kabasa noted that while the applicants claimed fraud and misrepresentation, they did not place sufficient evidence before the court to substantiate the allegations.
“Nothing on record shows that the offer letter in question was obtained through fraudulent means. The onus lies on the applicant to prove the veracity of what she alleges,” the judge ruled.
The court also observed that a related eviction matter involving the same parties had been reinstated and would allow evidence to be fully ventilated during trial proceedings.
Justice Kabasa dismissed the application for a declaratory order and ordered the first and third applicants to pay costs on the ordinary scale.