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heard on any of the issues raised in the founding affidavit in terms of the said section
of the Constitution.
On 22 September 2000 in the case of Capital Radio (Private) Limited v
The Minister of Information, Posts and Telecommunications S-99-2000 the applicant
made application to this Court for, and ultimately obtained, a ruling declaring that
section 27 of the Broadcasting Act 12:01 was unconstitutional in that the monopoly it
granted the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation was an infringement of the right to
freedom of expression guaranteed under section 20(1) of the Constitution. The same
order also struck down section 14 of the Radiocommunication Services Act [12:04]
for the same reason.
The applicant thereafter imported one antenna and one
transmitter, hired some broadcasting equipment and began broadcasting on 28
September with a test signal.
The second respondent sought to stop the applicant
from broadcasting on the basis that such broadcasting was unlawful in terms of the
Presidential Powers (Temporary Measures) Broadcasting Regulations.
The
Presidential Powers (Temporary Measures) Act under which the above regulations
were made was a stop gap measure intended to fill the legal vacuum created by this
Court declaring section 24 of the Broadcasting Act unconstitutional which left the
Broadcasting Services without a legal framework.
The Presidential Powers
(Temporary Measures) Act was superceded by the Act which came into force on 4
April 2001.
The applicant contends that the Act contravenes the Constitution in
certain respects. In particular, and in terms of the draft order, the applicant seeks an
order declaring the following sections of the Act unconstitutional:-
(a)
Section 4(2) and 4(3)