High Court Overturns Tshabangu’s Expulsion From CCC
The High Court has ruled that Sengezo Tshabangu’s expulsion from the Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) was unlawful. The court criticized the party’s disciplinary process as flawed and legally unsound.
Tshabangu was expelled on February 12, 2025, after being found guilty of violating the party’s constitution and disrespecting its leadership.
The decision to expel Tshabangu was made by CCC officials from a faction led by Welshman Ncube.
However, on April 11, 2025, Judge President Mary Zimba Dube ruled that those party officials had no legal authority to expel Tshabangu, as their terms had expired in May 2024 and were never renewed. Read the ruling:
In addition, he asserted that the appointment of the first to fourth respondents to the National Disciplinary Committee was done ultra vires the disciplinary code of conduct and regulations of the party, the code, is unlawful and irregular, their terms of office having expired.
(Tshabangu) posited that as the interim Secretary of the party, he has no knowledge of the appointment of the first to fourth respondents to the disciplinary committee and never generated the notice or sanctioned it. He challenged the authority of Welshman Ncube to appoint the disciplinary committee arguing that he is rotating by himself as Acting President contrary to the provisions of the constitution.
Justice Zimba Dube ruled that the disciplinary process was “null and void and liable to be set aside.” She ruled:
In this court application, the applicant approached the court seeking relief on an urgent basis for a declaration that the CCC Party’s office bearers and main organs elected on 26 May 2019 expired on 27 May 2024 and that the decision made by the disciplinary committee constituted of office bearers whose tenure of office had expired to expel him from the party is null and void liable to be set aside.
The declaratur was brought in terms of s14 of the High Court Act (Chapter 7:06) as read with rule 59(6) of the High Court Rules, 2021.
In the alternative, he sought it to be declared that the appointment of the disciplinary committee, its members and conduct of disciplinary proceedings that led to his expulsion is ultra vires the disciplinary code of conduct of the party.
After hearing the parties, I allowed the application on the basis of a preliminary point raised by the applicant.
Justice Zimba Dube ruled that the matter was treated as unopposed after the CCC failed to properly challenge the application.
The party’s attempt to oppose the case was described as “clumsy and done without due care,” with key procedural errors—such as filing a day late and using an affidavit signed by someone without legal authority.
Tshabangu, who claims to be the CCC’s interim secretary general and the opposition leader in Parliament, was expelled through a disciplinary process he argued was led by individuals without legal standing.
He brought the case against CCC National Disciplinary Committee Chairperson Sesel Zvidzayi, along with committee members Concilia Chinanzvavana, Gilbert Kagodora, and Shepherd Mushonga. The fifth respondent was the CCC itself.
Tshabangu told the court the officials behind his expulsion were elected at the Gweru Congress in May 2019 and that their terms expired in May 2024.
The judge agreed, ruling that any decisions or actions by these office bearers after May 27, 2024, have no legal effect and are declared null and void.
Justice Zimba Dube also rejected claims that Tshabangu had no legal standing due to unpaid subscriptions or failure to exhaust internal remedies, calling these arguments baseless.
The ruling casts doubt on the legitimacy of Welshman Ncube’s leadership, as his term also expired in 2024.
More: CITE
