Zim businessman Chalumbira slaps Kenny Kunene with...

Zim businessman Chalumbira slaps Kenny Kunene with a R2.5 million lawsuit for illegal bus rank comments

City Press Affluent businessman Isaac Chalumbira has filed a R2.5 million lawsuit against Patriotic Alliance (PA) deputy president Kenny Kunene for calling him a criminal.

Kunene accused Chalumbira of operating an illegal cross-border bus rank within Johannesburg’s Park Station during a live interview on news channel Newzroom Afrika in June last year, leading to legal action that was initiated at the Johannesburg High Court on 17 January.

According to the papers, Kunene allegedly cited during that interview that Chalumbira’s bus company, Powerhouse, was operating illegally without compliance necessary from the City of Johannesburg.

“So the Zimbabwean government is telling us in South Africa that the bus rank they recognise is Powerhouse, which is owned by a Zimbabwean; now the City of Johannesburg only recognises a bus rank called Fleet Africa. Those are the buses recognised to accommodate or operate buses from SADC and throughout the continent.

“…now the Zimbabwean has opened his own bus rank, which is supposed to be a parking, private parking area. He has burned it into a bus operating rank, that is illegal,” read the papers.

Chalumbira’s papers also cited that Kunene, speaking in his capacity as the Johannesburg Member of the Mayoral Committee (MMC) for roads and transport, was not open to discussion with them about the matter.

The papers read:

I am not going to waste my time with negotiations, the law is the law, it’s very clear. The Zimbabwean government was supposed to have interacted with the City of Johannesburg and established which ranks, bus ranks, are recognised as legal. They did not do that, they just took the word of their own citizen who is here in South Africa, making money in South Africa, illegally operating an illegal bus rank

In the papers, Chalumbira also cites that comments made by Kunene suggest that he and his company are part of an organised crime syndicate.

“As a result of the publication of these statements, I had my name and reputation injured and suffered damages amounting to R2.5 million,” read the claim.

Last week Kunene came under fire from political parties, including the Economic Freedom Fighters, for airing his sentiments on the same channel, where he was heard saying that illegal miners in Stilfontein, North West, must die like rats.

This was on the backdrop of mining rescue operations led by the Mine Rescue Services; the mission was launched after a high court ruling last month that ordered the state to extract illegal miners from the disused mine.

As of Thursday last week, 78 bodies had been retrieved, while 246 miners were rescued. The operation revealed the extent of illegal mining networks, with those rescued comprising 128 Mozambicans, 80 Basotho, 33 Zimbabweans and five South Africans.

The SA Police Service has reported that, since the launch of Operation Vala Umgodi in August 2023, a total of 1 907 illegal mine workers have surfaced. The operation has also recovered 87 bodies, of which only two have been identified.

City Press sent a written enquiry to Kunene, but he had not responded by the time of publishing.