High Court ruling strengthens Tshabangu’s hold on CCC
CCC self-proclaimed secretary-general Sengezo Tshabangu has firmly taken control of the fractured opposition party following a High Court ruling on 30 December 2025.
The court dismissed a challene by senior CCC members aligned to Welshman Ncube, who sought to overturn Tshabangu’s reinstatement in April after he was expelled in February.
Tshabangu, backed by key state actors, seized control of CCC from founding leader Nelson Chamisa after the 2023 general elections.
Chamisa left the party in January 2024, claiming it had been hijacked by Zanu PF-backed impostors.
After taking control, Tshabangu used parliamentary and legal avenues to recall elected officials, including MPs, senators, and councillors, replacing them with loyalists, some unelected.
His actions sparked a split in the party, creating three factions: supporters of Ncube, Tshabangu, and Chamisa’s loyalists led by Jameson Timba.
In February 2025, Tshabangu was expelled by a CCC disciplinary committee aligned to the Ncube faction over unsanctioned parliamentary appointments and other misconduct, including disrespecting party organs and bringing the party into disrepute.
Tshabangu challenged the expulsion in court, and in April 2025, the High Court ruled the disciplinary process invalid, saying the committee’s term had expired in May 2024, making their actions unlawful.
CCC officials later sought to overturn the ruling, filing an urgent application to rescind Tshabangu’s reinstatement and condone their late filing of opposing papers, but the High Court dismissed their case.
After hearing the case, Judge President of the High Court of Zimbabwe, Honourable Justice Mary Zimba-Dube, on Tuesday, 30 December 2025, dismissed the application, saying:
“Having found that the deponent to the founding affidavit does not have valid authorisation to defend the application under HCH 830/25 and for that matter bring this present application, it follows that there is no rescission of judgment to talk about.
“As a consequence, the founding affidavit is struck out rendering this application unopposed and improperly before the court.
“No basis has been shown for a punitive scale of costs. In the result it is ordered as follows: The application is dismissed with costs.”
This means Tshabangu’s reinstatement stands, leaving him fully in charge of the CCC. He has secured a series of favourable court rulings, and his control of the party has been supported, both publicly and behind the scenes, by the executive, legislature, and judiciary. *_-Pindula_*
