African Mediallion Group millionaire Frank Buyanga has escalated his child custody battle to the Supreme Court, fighting a High Court judgement to return his five-year-old son to his ex-girlfriend, Chantelle Muteswa.
Buyanga’s lawyers approached the Supreme Court following a 16 April order by Justice Jacob Manzunzu who gave him 24 hours to return the child.
“Take notice that the appellant hereby appeals against the whole of the judgement of the High Court of Zimbabwe, per Manzunzu J, handed down at Harare on the 16th April 2020 in case 2149/20,” said Buyanga’s lawyers in the notice of appeal filed on May 11.
“Take further notice that the judgement appealed against is a mandatory interdict mandating the handover of a minor child to the first respondent and also relates to the welfare and custody of a minor and as such no leave is required to appeal the said judgement by reason of section 43 (1) (d) (i) –(ii) of the High court Act {Chapter 7:06}.”
Muteswa, Killian Kapfidze, Police Commissioner General Godwin Matanga, Registrar General Clemence Masango, the Chief Immigration Officer, the Justice Minister and South African Airways are cited as the respondends.
The businessman is arguing that Justice Manzunzu erred in granting reprieve outside the pleaded cause of action and thus assuming jurisdiction in respect of and determining a matter that had not been properly placed before the court.
“The court aquo erred in any event in granting final and definitive relief under the guise of an interlocutory mandatory interdict,” Buyanga says in his notice.
At the heart of the appeal is whether Manzunzu should have proceeded to hear the matter, even after Buyanga’s lawyers informed the court that he had left the country and was therefore out of the court’s jurisdiction.
Buyanga had temporary custody of his son since July last year, on the strength of an order granted by the Children’s Court after Muteswa was evicted from a property she shared with her father in Harare rendering her and her son homeless.
Buyanga recently wrote to President Emmerson Mnangagwa complaining about the way Commissioner General of the Police Godwin Matanga is handling the matter.
