ZCDC gets court reprieve

THE Zimbabwe Consolidated Diamond Company (ZCDC) on Tuesday got a reprieve after the Supreme Court granted the firm an application to stay attachment of its property over a debt in excess of $1,4 million.

Three diamond firms - Minexus Mineral Resources, Edgetop Mining and Fadi Ali Khatoum - successfully sued ZCDC in the High Court last year for an order to attach its property to recover $1 471 200 in debts. Though ZCDC noted an appeal against the High Court decision, the three obtained a writ to attach and auction the property.

Justice Elizabeth Gwaunza, sitting in her chambers, heard the urgent chamber application for stay of execution. Advocate Garikai Joseph Sithole, who argued the matter for ZCDC, told her that the High Court decision was being challenged on the basis that the process leading to the attachment of his client’s property was flawed.

It was ZCDC contention that the attachment process was unlawful considering that there was inventory of the attached goods and their values. ZCDC stated in its papers that the attachment process lacked a valuation report, which would in the normal course of things inform the parties and the court an estimate of the total value of the attached goods.

This, the ZCDC averred, rendered the whole attachment in execution process null and void.