The Sunday Mail
Sunday Mail Correspondent
HIGH Court judge Mr Tawanda Chitapi has dismissed Probadek Investment’s urgent application to stop Redwing Mining Company (Redwing) from cancelling its mining contract and subsequently signing agreements with two other tributary investors.
Directors of Probadek Investments, Miss Patricia Mutombgwera and Mr Grant Chitate are challenging Redwing’s decision to cancel their tributary mining agreement in favour of two other mining companies that were later given rights to mine at the same claims.
In its founding affidavit, Probadek is claiming that they entered into a joint venture agreement with Redwing on October 15, 2020 where Probadek would invest in Redwing for mutual benefit. The two parties then entered into a tribute agreement on November 30, 2020 in which the applicant was granted exclusive rights to mine on the Redwing gold claims.
Probadek then claimed that it had entered into a notarial tribute agreement prepared and registered with the Ministry of Mines and Mining Development but Redwing took issue with the authenticity of the registration and subsequently terminated the agreements leading to the dispute which spilled into the courts.
Probadek caused the arrest of Redwing Corporate rescuer Cecil Madondo.
In his ruling, Justice Chitapi dismissed the urgent chamber application and delivered a hard hitting judgement last week.
“At the route of the application is the allegation by (Probadek) that it entered into a joint venture agreement (JV) with the first respondent (Redwing) on 15 October 2020 . . . The applicant followed up on the agreement by executing a tribute in terms of which (it) was granted exclusive rights to mine certain listed claims..,” Justice Chitapi said, adding Probadek had resolved to sue the Metallon Corporation (Metallon) subsidiary “based on rumours that the other tributors were carrying out mining activities.”
“It is of course false to state that the claims belonged to the applicant. The claims belong to (Redwing) with the second and third respondents (Prime Royal Africa and Betterbran) being granted rights to mine . . . ” he said in the hard-hitting judgment in which it was also noted that Mr Chitate and Ms Mutombgwera’s firm “was typically non-specific when alleging events and being coy with facts”. While Probadek had tried to cast aspersions on Redwing and its caretaker managers, it emerged in court that the former had failed to provide proof of funding or US$2 million for the Joint Venture budget.
Crucially, the company’s “urgent application” was instituted nearly two weeks after the termination of agreement notice and was deemed further defective by not listing or enjoining Madondo in the proceedings.
“In relation to the urgency of the matter being based . . . on the second and third respondents mining on the claims in dispute, the first respondent (Redwing) averred that no urgency arises because as far back as 2 December (Probadek) was aware of the tribute agreements,” Justice Chitapi said, adding it was rather strange that the applicant had sought to defend its position after two months and sought to act against the other tributors after having withdrawn an earlier suit against the parties on December 11.
The development comes as Redwing Mine owners, King’s Daughter Mining Company UK Limited, have also approached the High Court challenging the validity of Probadek Investments’ joint venture agreement with Madondo. Redwing Mine, through its company’s secretary, Mr Hapson Makotore, has filed a criminal complaint against the corporate rescue practitioner alleging that he had assented to two other tributary arrangements with competitors, a development they said prejudiced the company of nearly US$300 000.
