LABOUR COURT JUDGE GRANT 222 EMPLOYEES ANOTHER CHANCE TO FIGHT FOR THEIR MONEY IN COURT

BY JAMES MUTASA

A Labour Court Judge honourable Justice Godfrey Musariri recently provided former Maranatha Ferrochrome employees with another chance to fight for their case in the Labour Court after he granted condonation to Lilford Nhandara, the labour Officer who had failed to confirm his ruling in time with the court.

Nhandara had previously ruled that Maranatha Ferrochrome (Pvt) Ltd, which is a Ferrochrome Company based in Kadoma pay its 222 former employees a sum of $1, 5 million United States of America dollars accrued as unpaid housing allowance.

Unfortunately for the 222 former Maranatha Ferrochrome employees Nhandara failed to confirm his progressive ruling with the Labour Court in time as required by the labour law.

Following his failure to have his ruling confirmed by the labour court as a valid court order within the stipulated time Nhandara had to plead with the court and he did that through seeking condonation of late noting of confirmation of his ruling.

‘The application for condonation be and is here by granted,’ ordered Musariri, who adds, ‘Applicant may file his application for condonation of ruling within fifteen (15) days of this order.’

The grant of condonation by judge Musariri is viewed as a positive move towards the finalization of the matter which had gone for more than a decade.

‘This is a welcome development because as the affected part we cannot be prejudiced because the Labour Officer who is not directly affected by this issue failed to seek confirmation of his ruling in time.

‘In this case the honourable judge has done well to grant permission to the labour officer to confirm his case,’ said Abiton Malunga who is one of the 222 former Maranatha Ferrochrome employees.

‘We also thank the National Union of Metal and Allied Industries in Zimbabwe (NUMAIZ) our trade union,’ went on Malunga, ‘which has continued representing us from 2009, when the case begun, despite the fact that we were retrenched in 2013 and we are no longer subscribing members.’

Maranatha Ferrochrome is represented by Simbilisio Bhebhe of Kantor and Immerman.