HIGH Court judge Jacob Manzunzu has barred Kadoma gold mining kingpin Spencer Tshuma from interfering with operations of a local mining company, DS Mining Syndicate (DS Mining), pending a hearing of his Supreme Court appeal.
According to the court documents, DS Mining and Tawanda Dzviti approached the High Court last month seeking leave to execute an order that was granted in their favour.
In his judgment, Manzunzu said the application for execution should be granted in DS Mining’s favour as it was the one likely to suffer more damages.
“I find the preponderance of equities to be in favour of the applicants because they are not allowed to extract minerals for sale by virtue of a prospecting licence while the respondent under the cover of a certificate of registration can do mining. In casu, I have found that the balance of convenience favours the applicants more than the respondent. For the reasons already stated, the applicants will suffer more harm than the respondent if this application were denied. It is ordered that; the application for leave to execute a judgment pending appeal succeeds,” Manzunzu said.
In the application, DS Mining argued that its application was a matter of urgency as Tshuma and his company had continued mining at the claim.
“The applicants claim legitimate expectation of mining rights. The respondent through Family Mining Syndicate has mining rights which if continued to be exercised will cause irreparable harm to the applicants in the event applicants succeed when the dispute is resolved. This is because minerals are depleted. The applicants also left their equipment at the disputed location which they allege the respondent is using. The circumstances of this matter call for the matter to be heard on an urgent basis,” the firm argued.
The company is currently embroiled in a boundary dispute with Tshuma over Queensdale Farm in Kadoma, leading to a court order directing the businessman to restore possession of a mining claim to DS Mining, which is within the property.
Aggrieved by the court ruling, Tshuma filed a pending Supreme Court appeal.