THE High Court of Zimbabwe has struck off a review application by Korzim Strategic Minerals (Pvt) Ltd, ordering the company to pay the costs of the fourth respondent, Fourteen Karate Mining Syndicate.
The court’s decision follows an application for review by Korzim Strategic Minerals against the Mines and Mining Development minister, the provincial mining director for Mashonaland Central, Kingston Nyamakura and Fourteen Karate Mining Syndicate.
The case was struck off the roll for “non-compliance with rule 62(2) of the High Court Rules 2021”.
The controversy began more than 15 years ago, in 2009, when Korzim filed a complaint alleging that Fourteen Karate Mining Syndicate had encroached onto its mining claims.
However, an investigation by the mining commissioner revealed the applicant had pegged claims on ground not open for prospecting.
As a result, the mining commissioner cancelled the claims and instructed the applicant to appeal to the minister within 30 days.
Korzim’s claims were officially cancelled and forfeited in 2009, a fact it was fully aware of.
Despite this, a decade later in 2015, it filed an application for review, which was subsequently dismissed for a want of prosecution.
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This year, the applicant once again filed a review application, insisting it only became aware of the cancellation in April 2024.
This claim, however, was met with incredulity and stern opposition from Fourteen Karate Mining Syndicate, which provided irrefutable evidence of the applicant’s earlier knowledge.
The evidence included a letter from the applicant, written in 2015, confirming its awareness of the matter and previous legal action.
The fourth respondent’s lawyers argued that the applicant’s legal team was warned to withdraw the meritless application to save the court’s time and resources.
The High Court judge agreed with Fourteen Karate Mining Syndicate’s heads of argument that the application was flawed on multiple levels.
The application failed to comply with Rule 62(2) of the High Court Rules, 2021, as it did not clearly state the exact relief sought.
The review application was also filed more than 15 years after the cancellation of the claims, exceeding the prescribed eight-week period.
Korzim’s refusal to seek condonation, based on the false claim of recent knowledge, further compounded the issue.
The High Court contended that the application was founded on dishonesty.
The High Court agreed with Fourteen Karate Mining Syndicate that the applicant failed to disclose its previous dismissed review application and fabricated a timeline to circumvent legal requirements.
The judgment, delivered by Justice Priscilla Munangati-Manongwa, brings to an end a legal saga that has spanned more than 15 years.
