Monakwe's faction fails on Marenga interdiction
Monkagedi Gaothobogwe | Friday December 25, 2020 12:35
Marenga had approached the Court with an urgent application after learning that the rival faction had last week, unbeknown to him, got an interdict against him, barring him from discharging his duties as BOPEU general secretary.
Marenga had been issuing notice to a National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting for last week Saturday (Dec 19), when an interdict against that action was effected. However Marenga only learnt after the fact, having not been served prior to defend his actions. Subsequently, he filed an urgent complaint with the same judge which was scheduled for hearing on Tuesday, arguing that the other faction had sought the interdict behind his back, and that the interdict was fraudulent since another Court had already ruled on exactly similar matter and favoured Marenga. He was referring to a judgement of November 27, 2020 in which three judges panel, had among others decided on the interdict by Olefile Fast Monakwe to halt Marenga and Masego Mogwera from holding themselves as general secretary and president of BOPEU, and return two vehicles in their possessions. The panel had ruled in favor of Mogwera and Marenga in that case, and said they could continue using the two vehicles in their powers, since the April 27, 2019 meeting was found to have been invalid and all its resolutions.
The Tuesday matter before Justice Busang may have started two hours late, but ended swiftly once it took off, as the attorney representing the Manakwe's Itseng Mothibamele, did not waste time as he immediately tendered a withdrawal of the matter and proposed punitive damages against his client. The sudden withdrawal of the matter by the Monakwe party subsequently cleared the way for Marenga to carry on with his official duties. In their papers that were not opposed by their rivals, Marenga had argued that the rival faction had kept away from the Court pertinent facts including the facts that the Court had been made to make a ruling on a matter already decided by the High Court and that the rivals were in effect presenting the same case they lost previously.
Marenga further said that the behavior of his rivals to rush to Court and obtain a restraining order against him behind his back and without giving the Court the correct and relevant facts were fraudulent, adding that his rivals could not have claimed that they do not know his whereabouts when they had in fact served him with court papers previously when they attempted to relieve him of the BOPEU vehicle he is driving and also strip him of his powers as Secretary General. Mmegi understands that when he learnt that he had been misled into obtaining last week’s restraining order, the attorney from Bogopa Manewe Tobedza and Company made his feelings known to the Monakwe faction, hence his sudden withdrawal of the case.
Marenga meanwhile has welcomed the latest ruling and said he would now be looking at the bigger picture, which is driving the interest of the union. “I will be sending out notices for the NEC meeting once again as per the BOPEU constitution and the powers bestowed on me,” he said.