These are interpleader proceedings instituted by the Sheriff, the applicant herein, following objection to attachment of goods by N-Frasys (Private) Limited, the claimant herein. The goods were attached pursuant to a writ of execution issued at the instance of the Zimbabwe Construction & Allied Trades Workers Union which is the judgment creditor. Both the claimant and judgment creditor filed opposing papers to advance their respective claims.
The background to these proceedings is as follows. On 15 April 2013 the judgment creditor obtained a judgment in Case No. HC 6990/12 against Spurtmost Construction (Private) Limited for, inter alia, payment of a... More
On 12 February 2018, I heard this matter and delivered an ex tempore judgment. I have now been asked for the written reasons thereof and these are they. More
This is an interpleader application. The facts are that on 5 May 2017 twenty Judgment Creditors obtained judgment against a company called OTTLAC INVESTMENTS (PVT) LTD for a sum of US$37 500.00 together with interest at the rate of 5% per annum from the 6th of August 2014 to date of payment in full. Ottlac Investments (Pvt) Ltd was further ordered to pay costs of suit. Pursuant to obtaining the abovementioned order the Judgment Creditors instructed the Sheriff of Zimbabwe to attach and take into execution the Judgment Debtor’s movable property. During the course and scope of his duties the... More
On the 30th of June 2016, the judgment creditor, Tapiwa Nelson Magwizi, obtained a default judgment in his favour against Brandhope Enterprises Private Limited t/a Brandhope Logistics. The judgment debtor, Brandhope, was ordered to deliver an IVECO 7, 8 tonne truck within 7 days from the date of judgment or alternatively pay a refund in the sum of US$13 000, being the purchase price paid. More
Interpleader proceedings are interlocutory in nature. They deal with competing claims of the judgment creditor and the claimant who, in terms of the relevant rule of court, lays claim to property or goods which the Sheriff for Zimbabwe attaches at the instance of the judgment creditor in whose favour a judgment has been entered by the court. By virtue of the claim which he lays to the property, the claimant bears the onus of proof. He should prove, on a preponderance of probabilities, that he is the owner of the property which the Sheriff has attached. Where he is able... More
