dyton mupawaendaYeukai Karengezeka
Court Correspondent
A real estate company has landed in court for allegedly reselling a residential stand that had already been sold to another client, prejudicing the second buyer of nearly US$40 000.
Hayes Construction (Pvt) Ltd, along with its representative, Witness Tumelo Zamanga, appeared before Harare magistrate Mr Isheunesu Matova.
Zamanga was granted US$100 bail and is expected to return to court on February 7.
Prosecutor Mr Rufaro Chonzi alleged that in 2018, the High Court of Zimbabwe, through the Office of the Sheriff, appointed RM Africa Property Consultants, trading as Rawson Properties, and Hayes Construction (Pvt) Ltd to jointly develop a portion of land in Tynwald Township, Harare.
This was done under Court Order HC5182/15. The developers were to be compensated for their services with residential stands on the portion of land, which they would jointly dispose of.
The agreement stipulated that all sales of the stands would require signatures from representatives of both RM Africa Property Consultants and Hayes Construction to confirm the transactions.
As part of this arrangement, the developers were allocated 228 residential stands, from Stand Number 17722 to 18080.
The court heard that in June 2020, RM Africa Property Consultants and Hayes Construction entered into a memorandum of agreement to sell Stand Number 17940 to Mr Elvis Jieman for US$29 340.
In June 2024, a new buyer, the complainant, was searching for a residential stand in Ashdown Park.
He was referred to Hayes Construction’s offices, where an employee, Praise Madzingira, informed him that there were vacant stands available in the area.
The complainant was directed to Witness Tumelo Zamanga for further details.
Despite being fully aware that stand number 17940 had already been sold to Mr Jieman in 2020, Zamanga allegedly crafted a scheme to defraud the complainant. He falsely claimed the stand was still vacant and offered to sell it for US$39 800.
Believing the stand to be available, the complainant agreed to the terms of the verbal agreement.
On June 17, 2024, he met Zamanga and handed over the full purchase price of US$39 800 in cash.
A receipt was issued in Zamanga’s name.
The complainant repeatedly requested a written agreement of sale to formalise the transaction.
After several delays, Zamanga eventually provided a backdated agreement to align with the date of payment.
However, the fraud came to light when Mr Jieman, the original buyer, confronted the complainant, asserting that he was the rightful owner of the stand.
