Results.
16 judgments found.
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| November 1981 |
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Lease expired by effluxion of time; no new tenancy proved and acceptance of payments did not create one; possession and mesne profits awarded.
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Landlord and tenant — expiry of fixed-term lease by effluxion of time — whether correspondence and acceptance of arrears create new tenancy or waive notice to quit — burden of proof for arrears.
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25 November 1981 |
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An insurance broker is the insured's agent, not the insurer's; third-party notice set aside and parties bear their own costs.
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Agency — Insurance broker — Whether broker is agent of insurer or insured — Broker is agent of insured; third-party notice set aside — Costs: each party to pay own where successful point not raised below.
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3 November 1981 |
| October 1981 |
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Contractor breached an entire building contract by failing to complete within the agreed time; plaintiff recovered K4,000, special damages and counterclaim dismissed.
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Contract law — entire contract; time made of the essence and agreed extension; breach by contractor for non‑completion; recovery of interim payments where consideration has failed; insufficient proof of special damages; counterclaim dismissed for contractor’s breach.
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21 October 1981 |
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1 October 1981 |
| August 1981 |
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Under customary law, unsupported allegations of neglect and contradictory evidence do not justify dissolving a marriage; compensation may be ordered instead.
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Customary marriage — dissolution — high threshold for divorce — requirement to allow advocates to reconcile parties — misconduct often remedied by compensation not dissolution — credibility of evidence on appeal.
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26 August 1981 |
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Wife entitled to reclaim wedding chattels; lobola does not vest ownership in husband; appeal dismissed.
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Customary law — matrimonial property — entitlement of wife to items she brought into marriage; Lobola — does not transfer ownership of bride's wedding gifts; Traditional Courts Act — Commissioner’s power to direct hearing despite territorial jurisdiction defects; Appeal procedure — ex parte hearing where respondent absent.
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26 August 1981 |
| May 1981 |
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Whether employer or vehicle owner bears vicarious liability for negligent driving; court finds owner liable as principal/agent.
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Vicarious liability — respondeat superior — course of employment — owner liability as principal/agent — burden of proof — special damages (repair costs).
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30 May 1981 |
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Appellant's challenges failed: a subsisting customary marriage was found, respondent may use husband's name, appeal dismissed with costs.
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Customary marriage — validity — presumption attached to registered marriage certificate; use of husband's surname during subsistence of marriage; nkhoswe (advocates) requirements at customary law; duress — burden to rebut; jurisdiction to dissolve customary marriage.
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4 May 1981 |
| April 1981 |
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6 April 1981 |
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Applicant’s adultery and cruelty claims failed; respondent’s cross‑petition succeeded on circumstantial evidence proving applicant's adultery.
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Divorce law — Adultery — Standard of proof for adultery by circumstantial evidence — Disposition and opportunity required — Confession/admission only evidence against the maker; Cruelty — single incident and self‑defence insufficient to render cohabitation dangerous; Decree nisi — custody adjourned.
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6 April 1981 |
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Decree nisi granted where admitted adultery and repeated violent assaults constituted cruelty; petitioner did not condone adultery.
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Divorce law — Grounds: adultery and cruelty — Jurisdiction over foreign marriage contracted under Southern Rhodesia Marriage Act — Condonation defence considered and rejected.
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3 April 1981 |
| March 1981 |
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Whether persistent adherence to a proscribed religious sect and leaving the home constitutes desertion justifying divorce.
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Family law — Divorce — Desertion — Whether leaving matrimonial home owing to adherence to a proscribed religious sect constitutes desertion; constructive desertion and cruelty; evidential weight of conflicting testimony; decree nisi granted.
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14 March 1981 |
| February 1981 |
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Plaintiff proved oral defamation; defendant's truth defence failed and damages of K2,500 awarded.
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Defamation — oral publication — actionable per se; defence of truth/justification — burden on defendant — absence of proof; damages for injury to reputation and business; hearing in absence after personal service.
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26 February 1981 |
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Delay and refusal to deliver essential agricultural items breached an indivisible contract, entitling the buyer to repudiate and recover the deposit.
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Contract law — mixed written and oral terms — representations as contractual terms; Sale of goods — entire/indivisible contract; time of delivery of essence; fundamental breach entitling repudiation; proof and certainty of damages (loss of profits).
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23 February 1981 |
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Provocation did not reduce compensatory damages for assault causing permanent hearing loss; plaintiff awarded K4,000 plus costs.
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Tort — Assault and battery — Damages for physical injury — Provocation as mitigation — Permanent eardrum perforation and partial hearing loss — Compensatory damages not reduced by trivial provocation.
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9 February 1981 |
| January 1981 |
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Whether the defendant could withhold the purchase balance where a limited repair warranty existed and defects were minor.
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Sale of goods — specific goods v. sale by description — scope of verbal warranty limited to repair of manufacturer’s defects (6,000 miles/6 months) — minor intermittent oil leaks do not amount to lack of conformity — post-sale accidents/misuse attributable to buyer — buyer not entitled to withhold balance.
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16 January 1981 |