Temba Mliswa Rushes to High Court Over Farm & River Seizure
Former Norton legislator and businessman Temba Mliswa, through his company Cubs Den Consolidated (Pvt) Ltd, has filed an urgent chamber application at the High Court in Harare, seeking to block what he describes as the illegal disruption of a presidentially-approved river rehabilitation project.
According to court papers, Mliswa entered into a lease agreement with Hurungwe Rural District Council in September 2021 to operate in the Rengwe Conservancy. In November 2024, he formally requested the President’s consent to carry out river rehabilitation works along the Sanyati River, a project later approved by the President on 1 December 2024 as a national pilot programme.
The Environmental Management Agency (EMA) was appointed to oversee the project and, in May 2025, issued a directive formally authorising Mliswa’s company to begin operations.
“I hold valid leases, permits and EMA approvals authorising my occupation and operations, including the ongoing rehabilitation project,” Mliswa said in his affidavit.
Despite these approvals, Mliswa alleges that on 10 August 2025, police officers acting under the Provincial Joint Operations Command stormed the project site, ordered workers to stop operations, and seized equipment under what he calls “spurious allegations”.
“The actions taken against me are unlawful and constitute an infringement of my rights as the lawful lessee and operator on the land in question,” he told the court.
He further argues that the continued police presence has left the site vulnerable to illegal gold panners, who are now accelerating river degradation — the very crisis the rehabilitation project was designed to solve.
“The seizure has jeopardised critical environmental rehabilitation efforts and opened the door to illegal miners, whose activities are destroying the Sanyati River,” Mliswa warned.
The affidavit also alleges that the real motive behind the disruption is that certain authorities have issued irregular permits to competing entities linked to the provincial leadership, in order to take over the same project already approved for his company.
“The letters exchanged with government agencies earlier this year show beyond doubt that my operations were lawful and duly sanctioned,” Mliswa argued.
He stressed that his company has invested heavily in machinery and equipment, which now lies idle, incurring heavy costs while hundreds of employees face job losses.
“Unless this Honourable Court intervenes immediately, I will suffer irreparable harm to my business, my employees, and the community at large,” Mliswa stated.
The project, described as of national importance, was designed to serve as a model for replication across Zimbabwe.
Mliswa is seeking an urgent court order to restore his rights, interdict further police interference, and allow the rehabilitation project to resume without obstruction.
The High Court is expected to hear the matter urgently.
