Bitter estate wrangle sucks in top judges

A long-running family feud over the estate of the late Taya "Daya" Mlotshwa has erupted into a bruising legal battle at the Bulawayo High Court, with bitter accusations of judicial misconduct, stalling tactics, and attempts to unfairly benefit from a 106-hectare family farm.

Court filings show that Mackenzie Taya Mlotshwa and Campion Mlotshwa are at loggerheads over the administration of the estate, which was only registered in October 2020 — more than 40 years after Daya Mlotshwa's death in April 1979. Campion was appointed executor dative under estate DRB 987/20, but the distribution process has remained stagnant despite repeated calls by the Master of the High Court for progress.

In comparison, another family estate registered just six months later was finalised by January 2022, prompting Mackenzie to accuse Campion of deliberately dragging out the process to prejudice other heirs. He has since offered to administer the estate free of charge and proposed that the farm be placed under a family trust for the benefit of all descendants.

The succession dispute has spilled beyond family squabbles into allegations of corruption within the judiciary. In a complaint to the Judicial Service Commission (JSC), Mackenzie alleged that a senior judge colluded with lawyers to manipulate proceedings, claiming a defective ruling was issued to dismiss his application. He further suggested that both the judge and Campion's lawyer might have been promised a share of the disputed farm.

"This is undoubtedly a typical case of the law of the jungle, whereby cases are no longer adjudicated objectively and won on merit," Mackenzie argued in his letter to the JSC.

The JSC has since advised him to pursue appeals or reviews rather than administrative complaints. Judges cited in the allegations defended their rulings, with Justice Munamato Mutevedzi saying one application was "essentially unopposed" due to an incomplete affidavit, while Justice Bongani Ndlovu struck off a related matter on grounds of res judicata.

The 106-hectare farm at the heart of the dispute has become a flashpoint of division within the Mlotshwa family. Mackenzie claims Campion is manoeuvring to claim it exclusively, while Campion has dismissed the accusations, countering that Mackenzie is abusing court processes and failing to prosecute his own applications.

Campion has so far resisted efforts to remove him as executor, though that decision is now being contested.

With the estate unresolved and allegations of corruption clouding the process, the Mlotshwa family's inheritance battle shows no signs of abating.