UNIFREIGHT     LIMITED

v

LIGHTON     MADEMBO

SUPREME COURT OF ZIMBABWE

GOWORA JA; GUVAVA JA & MAVANGIRA JA

HARARE: 31 JULY, 2015

A. Rukawo, for the appellant

N.S. Chidzanga, for the respondent

GUVAVA JA:    This is an appeal against a decision of the Labour Court judgment number LC/H/122/2012 dated 17 August 2012.   After hearing arguments from both counsel the appeal was dismissed with costs. It was indicated that the reasons for this decision would follow in due course. These are they.

The brief facts which gave rise to this matter may be summarized as follows:

The respondent was employed by the appellant as a truck driver. His duties included delivering bulk fuel to various service stations. On 8 September 2010 the respondent made a delivery to Cargill Chegutu.  Upon arrival at the premises he had a physical altercation with a local tout. The manager of Cargill reported the incident to the police and the tout was arrested. Upon being interviewed by the police, the tout made a statement claiming that on a previous occasion,