The Law Society of Zimbabwe (LSZ) has said it is important that the Sadc Tribunal based in Namibia be restored to its original form following recent xenophobic attacks in South Africa where victims may not have recourse to legal redress.
By PAIDAMOYO MUZULU
LSZ president Vimbai Nyemba said on Friday the Tribunal should be re-established with its original powers in the face of the breach of rights of individuals in countries that hide behind sovereignty.
“I personally think that the Tribunal should be restored in its original form where individuals can take up their cases to the courts against abuse of their rights by states in the region,” Nyemba said.
“The change of the protocol gives rise to countries that abuse their citizens’ rights hiding behind the cloak of sovereignty.”
South Africa is currently experiencing a wave of xenophobic attacks mostly in KwaZulu Natal and Johannesburg areas where thousands of foreign nationals were displaced.
At least seven people were reported dead in the attacks while many others lost their property. The victims however have no recourse to courts to seek compensation from the South African government for failing to provide them security against the attacks. In the past they could have approached the Sadc Tribunal. The original Tribunal formed in 2000 was suspended in 2012 after it had given judgments against the government of Zimbabwe in land disputes with dispossessed white commercial farmers. The 2000 Maputo Tribunal Protocol allowed the court to hear disputes between States and individual natural persons or legal persons.
Article 15(1) of the Protocol read, “[The] Tribunal shall have jurisdiction over disputes between States, and between natural or legal persons.”
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The new protocol signed at Victoria Falls in 2014 diminished the Tribunal’s mandate, meaning it can now only hear disputes between states. No natural or legal person is allowed to approach the Tribunal for redress. South African President Jacob Zuma, Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe and Tanzania’s Jakaya Kikwete are among the regional leaders who signed the new protocol.
Other leaders who signed included Mozambique’s Armando Guebuza, Malawi’s Peter Mutharika, the Democratic Republic of Congo’s Joseph Kabila, Madagascar’s Hery Rajaonarimampianina and Namibia’s Hifikepunye Pohamba. Of the region’s 15 countries, only Botswana has not signed the new protocol. The reconstituted Tribunal is still to take its seat in Namibia.
