The day everything went up in smoke: Mazibisa

A COUPLE o of years ago, youthful Mr Sindiso Mazibisa wass one of the country’s top lawyers, running a firmr with over 20 lawyers — both junior and senior.n

At the peak of his career, he even handled one of the most publicisedi treason trials in the country, as an instructing lawyer.

And perhapsap realising how popular he had become he evenve tried his luck in politics. He was a media proprietorp of sorts after establishing a number of regionalre publications. In short he was on the fasta lane of success, with some even predicting that at he could easily become one of the country’s youngestn judges.

However, a day in January 2015 is one Mr Mazibisa wouldul hardly forget as this was the day his life and careerre came crumbling on his feet. This was the day when he made it into the newspaper headlines for all the wrong reasons, Cheda law firm shut down over $350k fraud — was the headline that became the talk of town.

Months after a number of articles, detailing the alleged corruptionp surrounding Mr Mazibisa and his Cheda and d Partners law firm, he was eventually barred from practicingp law in Zimbabwe after a tribunal ruled d that he be de-registered. The firm that was establishedbl in 1992 by founding partner and former seniore Bulawayo High Court Judge, Justice Maphiosh Cheda, collapsed following allegations of misusem of the company’s trust fund.

In the case which led to the de-registration of the lawyer and nd demise of the once popular law firm, the firm failed to account for $335 000 which South Africa-based businessman Mr Titus Ncube deposited withh the law firm in March 2013. Mr Ncube intendede to buy shares in a gold mine with Mazibisa as broker,ro but he later developed cold feet and asked that the money be released back to him but the law firm failed to reimburse him.

Sunday News Reporter Vusumuzi Dube (VD) last week interviewed Mr Mazibisa (SM) at his new business ventureu on a number of issues ranging from his de-registration, the collapse of Cheda and Partners and what the future entails for him after his de-registration.

VD: You ha have been in the media for all the wrong reasonsn for a considerable period now, can you tell u us about this, the demise of Cheda and Partners a and how all this has affected you? SM: r i e e