By Rex Mphisa
BEITBRIDGE lawyer Jabulani Mzinyathi Of Garikayi and Company has appealed to the Beitbridge Civil Court to censor a debt collection company he said was dubious and duping the people.
Mzinyathi was addressing the Beitbridge Civil Court soon after Magistrate Hazel Chitopo granted his application for an order against Hilton Legal Aid Trust as the Respondent to pay Matsiliso Dube $150 and R3 000.
Hilton Legal Aid Trust, masquerading as a debt collector, received the amount in different instalments on behalf of Matsiliso Dube but never remitted the same to her.
“I am appealing to the court to make a comprehensive recording of this which I can submit to the Law Society of Zimbabwe where I have reported the activities of this dubious company. We are losing business to these companies and the public is taken for a ride,” said Mzinyathi.
“In this case Payment was done in February and seven months later nothing has been remitted to the owner of the money on whose behalf they purport to have acted. This is criminal and the court can order an investigation. These people are masquerading as lawyers when they are criminals,” Mzinyathi said.
He questioned why Hilton Legal Aid Trust had the audacity to say they would pay the money after seven days when it was long overdue.
“They do nor have the locus-standi to say when they are to pay when consenting to a judgement,” said Mzinyathi.
Chitopo said the order had been granted to according to the application before the court requesting the $150 and R3 000 be released immediately.
According to the application by Mzinyathi for Dube, Hilton Legal Aid Trust of 30 Triple K Building in Beitbridge collected the aforementioned amounts on Dube behalf between February and May this year.
Instead of remittance, the dubious debt collectors operating without a licence, held on to the money asking one Nicholas Chabawa or Nicholas Nyambuya to first pay the fees.
He refused saying the charge of R1 500 was exorbitant but later paid.
Even after that collection nothing was sent to Dube.
Chitopo granted the order with costs even though the Respondent Hilton Legal Aid Trust did not