DISTRIBUTED BY VERITAS TRUST Tel: [263] [4] 794478 Fax & Messages [263] [4] 793592 E-mail: veritas@mango.zw Veritas makes every effort to ensure the provision of reliable information, but cannot take legal responsibility for information supplied. [12] The appellant submitted further that, as a question of interpretation, legitimate Judgment No. SC 31/18 Civil Appeal No. SC 553/13 expectation only arises upon the expiry of the contract with no incident. It does not arise where the contract has been terminated on notice prior to its expiry on any other ground. If termination is based on any other ground, then it is the law in respect of that other ground which is applicable and not the doctrine of legitimate expectation. That is so because one cannot have expectation of re-engagement of the contract that has already been terminated other than by effluxion of time. In this case, therefore, it is the law in respect of termination on notice that was applicable. Lastly, the arbitral award and determination of the Labour Court both ignored the conjunctive requirement that, in addition to the existence of legitimate expectation, there must be evidence that someone else was employed in his stead. [13] In his submissions before us, the respondent, whilst accepting that a fixed term contract can, in an appropriate case, be terminated on notice, argued that if a fixed term contract is terminated on notice but it is subsequently established that the employee not only had a legitimate expectation of being engaged but also that someone else had supplanted him, then such termination would be deemed to be an unfair dismissal. Section 12B refers to termination generally. The termination is not restricted to the expiry of the contract and, further, does not exclude other types of termination, such as termination on notice. The respondent submitted that what the section says is that “upon termination, by whatever means, which is on the face of it lawful, it is deemed an unfair dismissal if the employee had a legitimate expectation of renewal and another person was employed in his stead.” He further argued that it is not, therefore, “the manner of termination per se which makes it unfair but rather the fact of termination when the 6

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