HARARE – High Court judge Justice Maxwell Takuva has indefinitely reserved his ruling in a matter in which Spitzkop Farm owner Diana Catherine Rodrigues is suing some Harare residents she accuses of taking possession and selling her land to a top land developer, Leengate Pvt Ltd.

Rodrigues took the matter to the High Court after coming across advertisements of residential stands being sold by Leengate, which is developing the farm to construct a state of the art gated community.

She later learnt that the company had purchased the farm from Spitzkop Farm Residents Association after the grouping secured a court order declaring the farm as derelict.

She then sued the association and its leader Tinashe Mananzva arguing that she never abandoned her farm.

Rodrigues told the High Court that she became aware of the order against her on August 1, 2024 after she had engaged her lawyers to find out why Leengate was advertising and selling her land.

The order was granted against her in default by former High Court judge Webster Chinamora.

This was after the residents and Mananzva approached the High Court via the chamber book for an order in terms of the Titles Registration and eDrelict Lands Act.

“The said process was never served on myself. As appears on the record attached above, the 1st and 2nd Respondents alleged that our whereabouts were unknown despite the fact that I was born and raised in Zimbabwe and have always resided in Zimbabwe,” she said.

The record of proceedings also shows that the respondents advertised their provisional and final order in the Herald newspaper relating to a different deed and not Rodrigues.

“However, in this digital world, I have not bought a single hard copy newspaper for the last ten years.

“Further, the matter was filed and processed during the novel Covid-19 era in which most people chose to stay indoors both in compliance with WHO and Zimbabwean regulations around self-distancing and lockdowns.

“The above facts illustrate but one thing; that I was never in wilful default. The explanation for my failure to oppose the process commenced before this Honourable Court is reasonable,” she said.

She alleged that no due diligence was done to contact her and went to attach the Zvimba RDC assessment notices for the payment of levies which contains her address as P.O Box 1593, Harare.

Rodrigues said the address is still active and houses a company she jointly owned with her late husband.

She complained that the residents took advantage of Covid-19 to mount an application with full knowledge that the prospects of it going unopposed and unseen by her were high.

When the matter was heard on Friday, her lawyers urged the court to declare the order by Chinamora a nullity for having been granted unlawfully.

She said the residents cited the late Urebai Rodrigues as a respondent instead of citing the executor of the Estate.

An application was brought against the fourth respondent who was a part owner.

“Spitzkop brought an application against the deceased; as such the proceedings are invalid. They are invalidated because the notice that was brought to the Court could not be read by the deceased person.

“Those who dealt with the first matter did not know that the respondent was dead.

“This is a case of judgement granted with error and should be set aside. The executor should be joined to the proceedings.

“A judgement was stolen from the court under fraudulent circumstances where the court was not advised that the respondent was deceased and this was an abuse of court processes.

“A group of people just took the land from their owners. They say they received it as a gratuity from the former owner but the former owner had transferred the land to Rodrigues.

“The Rodrigues were not given an opportunity to defend themselves in court in what is a clear abuse of office,” said Advocate Thabani Mpofu said.

Mpofu is taking instructions from Blessed Ngwenya.

But Spitzkop Farm Residents Association which was represented by Advocate Tawanda Zhuwarara argued that the order was not against Urebai.

He said the proceedings should be terminated because Rodrigues had cited a deceased person as a respondent in the present application.

“From a nullity you cannot find anything. There was no surreptitious granting of the order,” he said.

Rodrigues said she bought the property in question in 1988 together with the late Urebai Rodrigues adding that she still has interests in her farm.

Ruling in the matter was reserved indefinitely on Friday.