BULAWAYO High Court judge Justice Maxwell Takuva has nullified the nomination of Saunders Mlotshwa as substantive Chief Mvuthu of Hwange district, saying it is unlawful, null and void.
Saunders was nominated by the family of the late Chief Mvuthu, born Nyangayezizwe Mlotshwa of Monde in the district following his death in March 2014.
In her application filed at the Bulawayo High Court, through her lawyers, Thulani Ndlovu and Advocate Perpetua Dube Silibaziso cited the Hwange district administrator (now district development co-ordinator (DDC)) and Saunders as respondents.
“The application is not about the resolution of a dispute as to who should be appointed as the substantive chief Mvuthu, it is about compelling the first respondent (DDC) as a public official to take action which he is at law obliged to take and issue lawful recommendations in terms of the law and the Constitution,” Takuva said.
Silibaziso had submitted that on December 21, 2014 the DDC convened a meeting for the nomination of the substantive chief and on account of gender her uncle Saunders was seconded by the DDC to be chief prompting her to file a court challenge, arguing that she was the rightful heir to the position.
