YAKUB MAHOMED
versus
JOHN ARNOLD BREDENKAMP
HIGH COURT OF ZIMBABWE
CHIKOWERO J
HARARE, 23 July 2018 & 8 August 2018
Opposed Application
J Wood, for the applicant
D Ochieng, for the respondent
CHIKOWERO J: This is an opposed summary judgment application.
The law on the relief of summary judgment is settled.
In sum, it is to enable a plaintiff with a clear case to obtain quick judgment against a defendant who has no real defence against the claim.
The plaintiff’s claim must be unanswerable both on the facts and the law.
To successfully repel such an application, the defendant must establish that he has a good prima facie defence.
Defendant must show that there is a mere possibility of his success at the trial, that he has a plausible case or that there is a real possibility that an injustice may be done if summary judgment is granted.
These principles have been set out in a plethora of cases including Chrismar (Pvt) Ltd v Stutchbury 1973 (1) RLR 277, Bubye Minerals (Pvt) Ltd and Another v Rani International Ltd 2007 (1) ZLR 22 (S) and Zimplastics (Pvt) Ltd and Corbett 2014 (1) ZLR 68 (H).