Zimbabwean Widow loses bid to reclaim 120ha farm

The High Court in Bulawayo has dismissed an application by a Bubi woman seeking to nullify an offer letter issued to a man occupying a disputed 120-hectare resettlement plot, ruling that she failed to prove allegations that the land allocation was obtained fraudulently.

In a judgment delivered by Evangelista Kabasa, the court rejected an application brought by Lillian Mahlangu, who had approached the court together with the executor of her late husband's estate and another family member.

The applicants sought to reclaim Subdivision 20 Hambakahle in Bubi District, Matabeleland North, and challenged the validity of an offer letter held by Melusi Mahlangu.

The respondents in the matter included Melusi Mahlangu, the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development, the Master of the High Court and the Bubi Rural District Council. The ministry, the Master of the High Court and Bubi Rural District Council did not oppose the application and elected to abide by the court's decision.

The applicants wanted the court to cancel an offer letter issued to Melusi in July 2010 and declare Lillian Mahlangu the lawful occupier of the property. They further sought an order compelling the Ministry of Lands to issue a new offer letter in her name.

According to court papers, Lillian argued that she had lived on the farm with her late husband, Richard Mahlangu, since the 1960s and that the property had been formally registered in his name through an occupancy certificate issued by Bubi Rural District Council in 2005.

She alleged that Melusi had initially been allowed to stay on the property as a family arrangement but later misrepresented himself to authorities as the lawful occupier in order to secure an offer letter.

"The first respondent approached the relevant authority and falsely presented himself as the lawful occupier," the applicants submitted.

The dispute intensified following Richard Mahlangu's death in 2005, with the applicants accusing Melusi of attempting to evict them from the property and engaging in abusive conduct.

The applicants also questioned the legitimacy of Melusi's documentation, arguing that an occupancy certificate bearing a 2022 stamp appeared inconsistent with an offer letter allegedly issued in 2010.

However, Melusi opposed the application and argued that he was the lawful occupier of the property by virtue of a valid A2 offer letter issued by the Government. He also raised preliminary objections, including a challenge to the High Court's jurisdiction on the basis that the matter had previously been referred to the Zimbabwe Land Commission.

In her ruling, Justice Kabasa found that the applicants had failed to provide sufficient evidence to support allegations of fraud and misrepresentation.

"The papers before the court show that the first respondent holds an offer letter which was duly issued by the relevant authority," the judge said.

"The offer letter gives the first respondent the right of occupation that the court has a duty to protect."

Justice Kabasa further noted that while serious allegations had been made against the respondent, the applicants had not discharged the legal burden of proving them.

"Nothing on record shows that the offer letter in question was obtained through fraudulent means. The onus lies on the applicant to prove the veracity of what she alleges," she ruled.

The court also observed that a related eviction dispute involving the same parties had been reinstated and would provide an opportunity for evidence to be fully tested during trial proceedings.

Consequently, the application for a declaratory order was dismissed, with the court ordering the first and third applicants to pay costs on the ordinary scale.

The ruling represents a significant setback for the applicants' efforts to reclaim the disputed property and reinforces the legal protection afforded to holders of valid government-issued offer letters unless clear evidence of fraud or irregularity is presented before the courts.