SC 23-15 - OK ZIMBABWE LIMITED v MSUNDIRE

OK     ZIMBABWE     LIMITED

v

ERIC     MSUNDIRE

 

SUPREME COURT OF ZIMBABWE

ZIYAMBI JA, GARWE JA & HLATSHWAYO JA

HARARE, JULY 16, 2013

D. Ochieng, for the appellant

S. Hashiti, for the respondent

 

GARWE JA

[1]        After hearing submissions from counsel, the court issued the following order:

            “(1)      The appeal be and is hereby dismissed with costs.

            (2)        The reasons for this order are to follow.”

[2]        What follows are the reasons for the order.

FACTUAL BACKGROUND

[3]        The appellant, OK Zimbabwe, is a company duly incorporated in terms of the laws of Zimbabwe.  It is a major player in the retail sector and for a number of years has conducted what has come to be known as the “OK Grand Challenge Promotion.”  That promotion provides an opportunity for a number of its customers to win various items, such as motor vehicles, residential stands and electrical goods.

[4]        The respondent, Eric Msundire, was employed as manager by the Zimbabwe Institute of Public Administration situated at Darwendale just outside Harare.  It was common cause at the trial that he purchased various grocery items from the OK Bazaars Supermarket in Marimba worth $999.98.  Consequently he was given a number of coupons which he completed and deposited into a selected container.

[5]        On 9 June 2010 the appellant, through the public media, announced a list of names of persons who had won various items in the promotion.  The respondent’s name was one of the names so announced.

[6]        Shortly thereafter, the appellants’ risk and services manager, one Osborne Tariro Mawere, received what he termed an anonymous call.  The caller suggested that there had been fraud in the manner in which some of the participants had obtained coupons to participate in the promotion.  Mawere accordingly proceeded to Braeside Police Station where he lodged a complaint based on the anonymous call and consequently a docket was opened for the purpose of investigating the complaint.

[7]        It is pertinent to mention that Mawere had been a police officer in the Zimbabwe Republic Police and at the time he retired from the force occupied the rank of Assistant commissioner.  At the time of the 2010 promotion he had been employed by the appellant for thirteen years.  He also was the holder of a Bachelor of Commerce Degree in Risk Management.

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