NATIONAL EMPLOYMENT COUNCIL FOR THE AGRICULTURAL INDUSTRY

versus

ZIM BIO ENERGY (PRIVATE) LIMITED

HIGH COURT OF ZIMBABWE

MATHONSI J

HARARE, 26 July 2018 & 8 August 2018

Opposed Matter

Ms V Kufaruwenga, for the applicant

I Chiwara, for the respondent

MATHONSI J: What remains standing out as the only defence which the respondent is clutching to, as if life itself depends on it, in resisting this application for summary judgement in the sum of $31 238-00 in statutory dues, is that the applicant should have supplied the further particulars it requested on 27 October 2015 to particularise how the sum claimed is arrived at and the basis for claiming interest from January 2014. That interesting state of affairs was achieved after Mr Chiwara for the respondent and myself had exchanged notes as a result of which he promptly abandoned the other three 3 defences which the respondent had raised in contesting the claim. The first casualty was the constitutional issue taken by the respondent that its constitutional right to freedom of assembly and association enshrined in s 58(2) of the Constitution was being violated by compelling it to pay dues to the employment council. He had relied on the authority of Netone Cellular (Pvt) Ltd v Minister of Labour and Anor 2015 (1) ZLR 291 (H) that an employer should not be compelled to be bound by a Collective Bargaining Agreement by virtue of being an employer in the industry.