THE feud between Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) acting president Welshman Ncube and self-imposed interim secretary-general Sengezo Tshabangu has escalated with the controversial Senator accusing his rival of influencing his lawyers to dump him at the 11th hour ahead of a Supreme Court appeal.
Tshabangu had filed the appeal against a High Court judgment that nullified his new parliamentary appointments challenged by Ncube and his faction of the opposition CCC party.
Tshabangu was being represented by lawyers from Ncube Attorneys which has links to Welshman Ncube.
Sources told NewsDay that Tshabangu learnt of his lawyers’ withdrawal when the case was about to proceed for hearing, resulting in him withdrawing his appeal on Monday this week. He, however, filed another appeal on the same day after engaging the services of Thompson James Mabhikwa and Partners.
In a statement on Monday, Tshabangu’s spokesperson Nqobizitha Mlilo said the lawyers had abandoned Tshabangu under “unusual circumstances”.
“Following the renunciation of agency by the erstwhile legal practitioners of record of Senator S Tshabangu and Senator N Mlotshwa under extraordinary, unusual and unprecedented circumstances which will be explained in full in due course, T J Mabhikwa and Partners were appointed as the new legal practitioners of record,” Mlilo said.
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“The legal practitioners have since served and filed the appeal of the whole judgment and order of His Lordship Wamambo J under Harare High Court case number 5606/2024, handed down on 8 January 2025.”
He said some respondents exerted considerable and unprecedented pressure on lawyers representing Tshabangu and Mlotshwa to withdraw from the case.
“This was obviously calculated to create a legal representation vacuum. Fortunately, a number of legal minds immediately applied their minds and advised that the temporary withdrawal of the matter was the most tactically prudent way to address what nearly became a crisis. Everything is back on track now. The appeal is now pending,” Mlilo said.
“It is fortunate that Senator Tshabangu, Senator Mlotshwa and Mr Sithole don’t want to play dirty as others are doing. They are interested in rational disputation. We hope our colleagues will reconsider their actions.”
Ncube-led CCC spokesperson Willias Madzimure said the party was confident it had a strong case against Tshabangu.
He also dismissed claims that Ncube had a hand in the withdrawal of Tshabangu’s former lawyers.
“That is desperation,”Madzimure said. “He still has to deal with his own lawyers and do the actual process, they also have to renounce their services and also to find new lawyers. Welshman Ncube has nothing to do with Tshabangu.
“He is confident of the party's case which is very strong and we are not scared of the resubmission of the appeal by Tshabangu and we don’t have a problem with following the due court process.”