Friends of Zimbabwe Coalition letter to Brink Cohen Le Roux

Brink Cohen Le Roux
BCLR House
19 West Street
Houghton 2198
Attention: Messrs.Odendaal , Bothma, P. Colyn, M. Khumalo, Ms. K. Young
Re: Proposed Settlement Offer for your client’s ZAR 81,440.15 claim against SAS
SMM v Master of the High Court and others
My committee and I had the privilege of attending the court hearing on Friday, 22 September 2006 at the High Court of South Africa in Johannesburg.
I am the Chairman of the Friends of Zimbabwe Coalition (FOZC) comprising a variety of concerned groups on the deteriorating human and property rights situation in Zimbabwe. We have been monitoring a number of high profile cases in Zimbabwe that involve the illegal nationalization of private assets by the government of Zimbabwe using draconian measures.
One such case involves Mr. Mutumwa D. Mawere, a citizen and resident of South Africa, who controlled the largest black conglomerate with diverse interests in mining, agriculture, manufacturing, trading, and financial services until President Mugabe promulgated a decree in September 2004 placing Mawere’s assets under the control of a state appointed administrator, Mr. Gwaradzimba, using extra-judicial methods.
The circumstances leading to the nationalization of Mawere’s assets are well documented in the media. When we learned about your client’s urgent application to review and set aside the decision by the presiding officer of the Master of High Court to admit as proved claims submitted by Africa Resources Limited (“ARL”), Africa Heritage Management Services (Pty) Limited (“AHMS”), and ECC Properties (Pty) Limited (“ECC”) we decided to attend the court hearing to better understand the commercial and political nature of the ongoing onslaught by the government of Zimbabwe targeted at Mawere personally and all assets that are under his control.
We have watched with concern at the grave human and property rights violations that are embedded in the Mawere case starting with the abortive extradition application in May/June 2004 followed by his specification and subsequently the specification of SMM followed by its nationalization. At the core of this case is the interference of the government of Zimbabwe in commercial affairs of private companies and the criminalization of business against a background of a dysfunctional state that has to date not taken responsibility for the economic problems besetting the country.
We came to the hearing with great expectations that no South African judge would recognize the draconian measures employed by the government of Zimbabwe in obtaining control of Mawere’s assets not only because these measures fly in the face of the South African constitutional democracy and its underlying principles but recognizing these measures would effectively sanction what is comparable to the doctrine of mala fide expropriation of a member’s interests. I was shocked to learn that your team of seven (7) attorneys were representing SMM in a claim whose face value of only R81,440.15 was disproportionate to the costs of counsel.
We can find no justification of such a big team taking an interest in proving a claim and subsequently making all attempts to ensure that no other claim is proved other than confirming the hand of Mugabe who as you may be aware has forced all of us to seek refuge in other countries including South Africa. We are all victims of the Mugabe regime and it was not surprising to learn from Mr. Odendaal in his submission to court that the authority to lodge the court application was provided by the Minister of Justice, Legal & Parliamentary Affairs, Mr. P. Chinamasa, who for your information is familiar with my personal victimization at the hands of the Mugabe regime.
We have read your founding affidavit and are aware that SMM tried before to prove a claim but withdrew from interrogation while at the same time making all efforts to subject other creditors to interrogation. This attitude is to be expected from the Mugabe regime and its agents. I had no idea that the government of Zimbabwe would attempt to stretch its arms into the courts of the Republic of South Africa by enforcing its unlawful property seizure campaign while individuals like Mawere remain helpless while lawyers make a fortune out of this unfortunate human tragedy.
While I appreciate your role as legal service providers to clients the peculiar circumstances surrounding this case and your sustained involvement in it while your client was conspicuous in his absence at the hearing speaks volumes of what is at play in this matter. It appears that no amount of money will be spared to advance the illegal activities of the Zimbabwe government and your professional role in it as evidenced at the hearing is not only concerning but contemptuous of what one would expect in a civilized and democratic country.
You are aware that President Mbeki has repeatedly made the point that the resolution of the Zimbabwean crisis lies in the hands of Zimbabweans and yet it appears that your conduct suggests that there is direct involvement of South African individuals and institutions in perpetuating and profiting from Mugabe’s gangster like rule. We also read the Master’s Report that exposes your contemptuous approach to the office charged with administering the affairs of insolvent estates. My colleagues and I did not believe that Mugabe was represented by a team of six (6) white lawyers and one black lawyer given the anti-white posture he takes at home. It was revealing to us and we could not help but take photographs of your team so that we can convince our colleagues both here and at home that you are indeed Mugabe’s boys and girls and our salvation will not be near until we expose the connection between the illegal actions of the Mugabe regime and a white conspiracy involving you.
The economic meltdown in Zimbabwe is well known to you leading us to ask who is paying for your services while the average citizen of Zimbabwe is condemned to a lesser standard of living. Foreign exchange is not available and it is criminal for residents to hold foreign currency and yet your team appears to have unfettered access to foreign currency for your services. Unlike Mr. Jacob Zuma whose friends came to his rescue it appears that Mawere is fighting the government of Zimbabwe and its proxies alone and the matter has not been given the profile it deserves given its political and economic context.
Having read the papers and the travesty of justice that continue to characterize this matter particularly after the Judge postponed the matter without ruling on whether the matter was an urgent matter or just a continued abuse of the courts by your client, our committee met on Saturday, 23 September 2006 to review this case and came to the conclusion that we must tender an offer to your client to settle the claim of R81,440.15 that has given your client the right to continue to abuse the rights of Mawere and the companies he represents. The extra-territorial abuse that has seen Mugabe steal CFI shares and your aiding and abetting Mugabe and his cronies to disguise this theft while in Zimbabwe, the Mugabe regime would like the public to believe that Mawere was responsible for the collapse of his business empire. We have been made to believe that Mawere through SAS was responsible for externalization of funds from Zimbabwe and any control of the liquidation of SAS by anyone connected to the Mugabe regime is worrisome to any rational person. Why is it that you wish to control the administration of the liquidation of SAS and why are you scared about any other person being in control of the affairs of SAS? There is need for transparency to determine if the actions of the government of Zimbabwe in taking over the control of Mawere’s companies in Zimbabwe and Zambia were justified.
In making this offer, my committee is conscious of the true identity of SMM and we are concerned about the lack of transparency on your part in purporting to represent a company when in truth and fact you are representing the interests of the government of Zimbabwe. It is the aspect of unmasking the identity of SMM in South Africa that appeals to our group not only because your court action presents an opportunity for us to expose for the first time in South Africa the corruption that now characterizes state behavior in Zimbabwe, but also because you are beneficiaries of dirty money. Some of our members are asylum seekers who have been denied asylum by the government of South Africa principally on the grounds that Zimbabwe is a safe environment and allegations of human and property rights abuses are unfounded.
We believe that the SMM case presents a unique opportunity for us to demonstrate to the South African and international community the extent to which the Mugabe regime is being sustained by the collaboration of people like you. You are aware of the sanctions environment that has been put in place in response to the unorthodox manner in which the Zimbabwe government has chosen to conduct business and there can be no better case study than the SMM issue to bring home the fact that the world cannot stand by while human and property rights are being abused with impunity, coupled with the worrisome involvement of respectable attorneys like you. We have no illusions about the role of money in explaining your choice of clients but we think that time has come for us to act decisively to cure the Mugabe injury not only for the people of Zimbabwe’s benefit but for South Africa as well. I am sure you will join us in this fight by accepting our offer of settlement of the nominal value of your client’s claim so that we can step in to help expose the unacceptable behavior of the government of Zimbabwe.
We make this offer without prejudice and trust that you will take our interests in this matter in good faith and assist us in bringing closer the day when Zimbabwe can be free of tyranny and gross human and property rights violations that should offend any decent law abiding citizen of South Africa. We have taken some of the pictures that are attached hereto to help our country man know Mugabe’s true South African friends. I am sure you will agree with me that your role in Zimbabwe’s decay needs to be exposed and responded to with the contempt it deserves. We have confidence that our intervention in this matter and obvious interest in the outcome of the SMM saga will force Mugabe to defend his misrule in South Africa rather than use nominees or agents as soldiers of fortune.
We await your response by no later than 10:00 hours tomorrow morning to allow us to make a payment to a designated account of your client’s choice.
Yours faithfully
Mr. Sairos (Sox) Solomon Chikohwero
Chairman
Cc:
Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development, South Africa
Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Zimbabwe
The Master of the High Court Johannesburg,
Pamela Dube
Norman Klein
D. Lindup
T.V. Matsepe
E.J. Mathato
Y.M. Seckle-Marupen
ECC Properties (Pty) Ltd
Africa Heritage Management Services (Pty) Ltd
Africa Resources Limited
SMM Holdings (Pty) Ltd