{"id":35095,"date":"2023-09-23T17:14:47","date_gmt":"2023-09-23T17:14:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/coa-overrules-p110m-debswana-case"},"modified":"2023-09-23T17:25:08","modified_gmt":"2023-09-23T17:25:08","slug":"coa-overrules-p110m-debswana-case","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/coa-overrules-p110m-debswana-case","title":{"rendered":"CoA Overrules P110M \u201cDebswana Case\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Botswana. <\/strong><\/span>The Court of Appeal (CoA) has overruled the Gaborone High Court\u2019s judgment ordering Debswana Mining Company to pay P110 million with a ten percent annual interest to Infotrac (Pty) Ltd.<\/b><\/p>\n

The ruling according to judges was centered around discrepancies in the timelines of payment, project costs, and the authorisation of the work in question.<\/p>\n

Breach of contract<\/p>\n

The case stemmed from an alleged breach of contract between Infotrac and Debswana, dating back to an oral consultancy agreement established in 2018. Infotrac had sought relief from the High Court, claiming that Debswana failed to honor their agreement.<\/p>\n

Lobbying work<\/p>\n

Infotrac\u2019s Managing Director, Mompoloki Motshidi, asserted that his company was engaged by Debswana to lobby for the appointment of the late Debswana Managing Director, Albert Milton, upon the retirement of Balisi Bonyongo. This lobbying work included engaging with stakeholders on Milton\u2019s behalf. However, Debswana, represented by their lawyer, John Carr-Hartley of Armstrong Attorneys, disputed Infotrac\u2019s version, stating that the engagement was with Milton in his personal capacity.<\/p>\n

In favor of Infotrac<\/p>\n

The High Court in 2022 ruled in favor of Infotrac, with Justice Abednego Tafa asserting that he found the plaintiff\u2019s version to be more credible. He said he believed that Infotrac had proven its claim on a balance of probabilities and rejected Debswana\u2019s argument that the head of security, a part of the Debswana executive, would not be expected to enter into such contracts. Justice Tafa also noted that there was no reason to believe that Motshidi should have known Debswana\u2019s internal procurement procedures, as he was entitled to assume that the Debswana executive officers were authorized to conclude the contract.<\/p>\n

Inconsistencies in the evidence<\/p>\n

However, the Court of Appeal\u2019s decision has now reversed this judgment. The higher court highlighted inconsistencies in the evidence presented during the trial and raised doubts about the existence of a valid agreement between Infotrac and Debswana.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn our view, the High Court failed to follow the steps laid down in the Stellenbosch farmers\u2019 case and to evaluate the evidence before it. All these inconsistencies, coupled with the contradictions between the evidence and pleadings, create doubt as to whether there was ever an agreement between the appellant and the defendant,\u201d the Court of Appeal ruling states.<\/p>\n

The court further questioned the probability of a P110 million fee, considering that only three individuals were allegedly lobbied. The ruling described the alleged fee as \u201coutrageous and preposterous\u201d given the nature of the work attributed to the respondent, which \u201cdefies any semblance of probabilities.\u201d<\/p>\n

In favor of Debswana<\/p>\n

Consequently, the Court of Appeal ruled in favor of Debswana, concluding that the respondent had not proven their case on a balance of probabilities. The judgment emphasized that the probabilities favored the appellant (Debswana), leading to the dismissal of the plaintiff (Infotrac)\u2019s claim.<\/p>\n

In a post-judgment response, Mompoloki Motshidi, expressed his frustration with the recent Court of Appeal decision that overturned the High Court\u2019s ruling in his favor, wherein he claimed Debswana owed him P110 million for intelligence work.<\/p>\n

He stated: \u201cI accused the judges of a conflict of interest, not out of spite or a desire to undermine the integrity of the judiciary, but out of a profound belief in the principles that our legal system supposedly upholds fairness, impartiality, and justice. But it appears they had a different agenda away from the case I was raising.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI firmly stand by my assertion that I lost not to Debswana but to a judicial system plagued by conflicts of interest. It is a system where the scales of justice seem to tilt towards the powerful, where the voice of the common man often goes unheard, and where the promise of justice for all remains elusive,\u201d he asserted.<\/p>\n

Motshidi also expressed his dissatisfaction with the way his concerns were handled by the Court of Appeal judges, stating, \u201cMy concerns were totally ignored by the CoA judges. At some point, I felt like a cockroach seeking justice in a court of chickens.\u201d<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Botswana<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Botswana. The Court of Appeal (CoA) has overruled the Gaborone High Court\u2019s judgment ordering Debswana Mining Company to pay P110 million with a ten percent annual interest to Infotrac (Pty) Ltd. The ruling according to judges was centered around discrepancies in the timelines of payment, project costs, and the authorisation of the work […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":35093,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,12],"tags":[233,237,234],"class_list":["post-35095","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-policy","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-botswana","tag-botswana"],"yoast_head":"\nCoA Overrules P110M \u201cDebswana Case\u201d - Botswana<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Court of Appeal (CoA) has overruled the Gaborone High Court\u2019s judgment ordering Debswana Mining Company to pay P1 ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/coa-overrules-p110m-debswana-case\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"CoA Overrules P110M \u201cDebswana Case\u201d\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Court of Appeal (CoA) has overruled the Gaborone High Court\u2019s judgment ordering Debswana Mining Company to pay P1 ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/coa-overrules-p110m-debswana-case\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Botswana\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-09-23T17:14:47+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-09-23T17:25:08+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/botswana\/sites\/38\/2023\/09\/sm_1695477137.776626.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"630\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/coa-overrules-p110m-debswana-case#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/coa-overrules-p110m-debswana-case\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"CoA Overrules P110M \u201cDebswana Case\u201d\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-09-23T17:14:47+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-09-23T17:25:08+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/coa-overrules-p110m-debswana-case\"},\"wordCount\":685,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/coa-overrules-p110m-debswana-case#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/botswana\/sites\/38\/2023\/09\/sm_1695477137.776626.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-Botswana\",\"Botswana\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"policy\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/coa-overrules-p110m-debswana-case#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/coa-overrules-p110m-debswana-case\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/coa-overrules-p110m-debswana-case\",\"name\":\"CoA Overrules P110M \u201cDebswana Case\u201d - 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