Lawyers clash on 2030 ConCourt case

A fierce battle of lawyers is looming between Nqobani Sithole, Method Ndlovu and Zibusiso Ncube over the controversial Matabeleland pressure group Ibhetshu LikaZulu and one of its leaders Mbuso Fuzwayo’s Constitutional Court bid to block President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s term extension after Ndlovu quit the case in a huff yesterday, citing a breaking of trust, non-payment of his legal fees and reputational risk, it has emerged.

Informed sources told The NewsHawks last night that said there were simmering volatile tensions behind the scenes between Sithole (left) and Ndlovu (right-up) after a fallout over the case, which has far-reaching legal and political implications for Zimbabwe. Ncube has been entangled in the case through association and his attendant liaison role. The sources said all hell broke loose yesterday after Sithole had moved to remove Ndlovu from the case following recent controversies with former minister Jonathan Moyo, whom the latter claims is the “principal architect of the litigation”.

Sithole is said to have contacted Ndlovu yesterday to tell him that he was being removed from case, promoting the latter to quickly write a letter withdrawing from the matter to pre-empt the former and coming developments. The letter was said to have been leaked to the media, including to The NewsHawks, and this is said to have infuriated Sithole who now privately accuse Ndlovu of being unprofessional and playing dirty. As a result, the case is likely to end up being reported to the Lawyer Society of Zimbabwe, raising the stakes and risking careers, sources say.

This ominous development has career-ending implications for some of the lawyers involved. Ndlovu was initially hired as the lead counsel for Fuzwayo and Ibhetshu’s Constitutional Court case, which challenges Mnangagwa’s term extension to 2030. The case was prompted by Zanu PF’s 2025 annual conference resolution in Mutare in October instructing the party to amend the constitution to allow Mnangagwa to extend his tenure to 2030. The Mutare resolution reasserted the Bulawayo decision on the issue. Mnangagwa’s constitutional two terms in end in 2028.

Fuzwayo and Ibhetshu rushed to court to challenge the resolution. However, controversy followed as claims emerged the case was a collusive legal action to help Mnangagwa’s plan through judicial manipulation. Claims of a contrived case have compounded the situation now increasingly becoming a political and legal imbroglio. Subsequent to the Zanu PF conference and the Fuzwayo case, a raft of constitutional amendments have been made to extend Mnangagwa’s term and change the political, electoral and governance systems. Sithole of Sithole Chambers is the instructing lawyer. So Ndlovu was instructed by Sithole to represent Fuzwayo and Ibhetshu.

But Ndlovu has now withdrawn as counsel for Fuzwayo and Ibhetshu, citing a breakdown in trust, lack of payment and reputational risk. In a formal letter to Sithole yesterday, Ndlovu cited collapse in mutual expectations between himself and the clients, lack of payment for his legal services in the matter, and reputational damage due “unfounded allegations” by Moyo as reasons for his withdrawal. This referred to Moyo’s recent explanation of a leaked audio in which he was allegedly speaking to Zanu PF leaders on how to manage the court case. However, Moyo said he was not speaking to any Zanu PF officials in the conversation but to Ncube and Ndlovu. He produced WhatsApp messages as evidence. But Ndlovu has given a different version of events, creating a potentially long-running saga.

His withdrawal has left the high-profile constitutional application in a state of paralysis and uncertainty as applicants now lack legal representation. It has also left Sithole, himself and by extension Ncube explosively at loggerheads in a clash of lawyers likely to open a Pandora’s Box on the case and concomitant legal and political issues involved.