High Court Orders Securico To Pay How Mine $675K After Gold Robbery
Security company Securico has been ordered by the High Court to pay How Mine US$675,000 (approx. R12.4 million) after failing to prevent the theft of nearly 12kg of gold during a brazen armed robbery in October 2022.
The judgement, delivered by Justice Joseph Chilimbe on July 1, ruled that Securico had failed to meet its legal obligation to provide secure transport for the gold consignment and could not rely on the defence that the robbery was unforeseeable.
Judge rejects “unforeseen robbery” defence
The armed robbery occurred on 4 October 2022 when a Securico convoy transporting 11.95kg of gold bullion from How Mine to Bulawayo was intercepted by armed assailants.
Zimlive reports that How Mine claimed that Securico’s failure to provide an armoured vehicle, as well as functional panic buttons and communication tools for the guards, constituted gross negligence.
Securico had argued that the robbery was a “superior force”, or vis major—an unavoidable event. But Justice Chilimbe disagreed.
“In its plea, Securico averred that the event was unforeseeable. In evidence, its witnesses accepted that robberies formed a well-known risk,” the judge said.
He further questioned the wisdom of using a “soft skin” plated van instead of an armoured vehicle to transport high-value cargo.
“Securico… was obliged, under the Praetor’s Edict’s strict liability, to deliver the consignment intact,” Justice Chilimbe ruled.
“It therefore assumed risk when it accepted the commission to ferry How Mine’s bullion under security arrangements which, by Securico’s standards, were less than adequate.”
Court finds security arrangements “inadequate”
In a strongly worded ruling, the court cited a range of failures by Securico. These included the lack of panic buttons, the use of unarmoured vans, and failure by the crew to contact police or their own reaction teams.
“The failure to trigger alarms and the crew’s inexplicable failure to summon both the police and its own reaction teams bordered on negligence,” the judge said.
The judge noted that Securico had instructed its guards not to engage armed robbers in order to preserve life, a move he acknowledged but also questioned:
“Where a carrier sets out on a dangerous enterprise… does it not in fact assume the risk of loss where it restrains its personnel from boldly engaging the despoilers?”
US$675k award and interest granted
In his final ruling, Justice Chilimbe concluded:
“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 has been ordered to pay How Mine US$675,000 (approx. R12.4 million), along with interest at a rate of 5% per annum, backdated to October 4, 2022.
Advocate Thabani Mpofu represented How Mine, while Romeo Chatereza appeared for Securico.
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The post High Court Orders Securico To Pay Mine US$675K After Poor Security During Armed Robbery appeared first on iHarare News.
