BULAWAYO-
Security
firm
DDNS
Security
Operations,
trading
as
Securico,
has
been
ordered
by
the
High
Court
to
pay
How
Mine
$675,000
after
it
lost
11.95kg
of
gold
bullion
it
was
transporting
to
Bulawayo
during
an
armed
robbery
on
October
4,
2022.
How
Mine
argued
that
Securico
failed
to
provide
adequate
and
competent
security
to
protect
the
gold
including
failing
to
utilise
an
armoured
truck
while
security
officers
had
no
panic
buttons
and
some
had
no
airtime
to
raise
the
alarm.
Securico
challenged
How
Mine’s
claim,
arguing
that
the
armed
robbery
was
unforeseen
and
no
human
foresight
could
have
prevented
it.
Justice
Joseph
Chilimbe,
in
a
judgement
delivered
on
July
1,
found
in
favour
of
How
Mine.
The
judge
said:
“I
must
take
due
regard
of
the
fact
that
officially,
both
parties
(How
Mine
and
Securico)
were
alive
to
the
risks
confronting
bullion
runs,
not
least
of
which
was
the
compromise
of
security
arrangements.
“I
must
relate
to
a
paradox
emerging
from
the
law
and
facts
herein
from
that
aspect.
Securico
as
a
public
carrier
was
obliged,
under
the
Praetor’s
Edict’s
strict
liability,
to
deliver
the
consignment
intact.
It
therefore
assumed
risk
when
it
accepted
the
commission
to
ferry
How
Mine’s
bullion
under
security
arrangement
which
by
Securico’s
standards,
were
less
than
adequate.
“But
the
law
extended
a
reprieve
to
Securico
in
the
event
that
loss
of
consignment
was
occasioned
by
superior
force.
The
resultant
anomaly
however
being
that
the
same
insufficient
arrangements
were,
according
to
the
evidence
given
and
arguments
raised
by
Securico,
contributory
to
the
causus
fortuitous.
Does
the
question
not
arise
then
that
defendant
walked
into
a
situation
which
it
knew
very
well
could
arise?
What
then
is
the
effect
of
this
possible
conclusion
on
the
defence
of
vis
major
(unavoidable
event
or
circumstance,
beyond
the
control
of
parties
involved)
tendered
herein?
“In
its
plea,
Securico
averred
that
the
event
was
unforeseeable.
In
evidence,
its
witnesses
accepted
that
robberies
formed
a
well-known
risk.”
Justice
Chilimbe
said
the
failure
to
trigger
alarms
and
the
Securico
crew’s
inexplicable
failure
to
summon
both
the
police
and
its
own
reaction
teams
bordered
on
negligence.
Securico,
the
judge
found,
set
out
to
carry
valuable
cargo
with
“soft
skin”
plated
vans,
instead
of
an
armoured
van.
The
company
was
also
well
aware
of
the
limitations
of
its
fire
power
and
“above
all
else,
it
had
clearly
and
commendably
ordered
its
personnel
to
preserve
life
(by
not
engaging
armed
robbers
in
a
gunfight).”
Reasoned
Justice
Chilimbe:
“That
decision
(to
preserve
life)
was
crucial
to
the
evaluation
of
the
guards’
response
during
and
after
the
robbery.
The
question
being;
–
where
a
carrier
sets
out
on
a
dangerous
enterprise
involving
the
prospect
of
violent
depredations,
does
it
not
in
fact
assume
the
risk
of
loss
where
it
restrains
its
personnel
from
boldly
engaging
the
despoilers?
And
does
that
risk
not
escalate
where
there
are
known
security
inadequacies?
Including
deployment
of
a
soft
skin
van
which
the
staid
Mr
Marko
Mukazi
(Securico
crew
commander)
condemned
as
clearly
unfit
for
purpose?
“…
I
reach
the
conclusion
that
Securico
failed
to
discharge
the
requisite
onus
of
proving
the
defence
of
vis
major.
How
Mine
succeeds
in
the
main.
“Securico
is
ordered
to
pay
How
Mine
the
sum
of
US$675,000
and
interest
thereon
at
the
rate
of
5
percent
per
annum
with
effect
from
October
4,
2022,
up
to
date
of
payment
in
full.”
Advocate
Thabani
Mpofu
appeared
for
How
Mine
while
Securico
were
represented
by
Romeo
Chatereza.