The applicant sought an urgent provisional order staying execution against its property under a warrant of execution granted by the Magistrates' Court on 20 February 2015 under case number MC 32839/14 in the sum of US$178,348.88. The first respondent was the judgment creditor. The application was accompanied by a certificate of urgency signed by Fanuel Francis Nyamayaro dated 30 April 2015, but the applicant's founding affidavit was only commissioned on 4 May 2015 - four days after the certificate of urgency was prepared. This meant the certifying legal practitioner had certified the matter as urgent before the founding affidavit even existed.
The application was dismissed with costs.
A certificate of urgency that predates the founding affidavit is invalid and renders the entire urgent chamber application fatally defective. A legal practitioner issuing a certificate of urgency must have actually read the founding affidavit and applied his or her mind to the facts contained therein before certifying the matter as urgent. The certificate of urgency is a sine qua non (essential prerequisite) for the valid placement of an urgent chamber application before a judge. It is a condition precedent to the validity of a certificate of urgency that a legal practitioner applies his or her mind to the actual facts of the case, not merely what the client alleges.
The court made several observations about the purpose and function of certificates of urgency. Bhunu J noted that urgent applications are extraordinary remedies where parties seek to gain an advantage over other litigants by jumping the queue, and such indulgence should only be granted after careful consideration. The court observed that the need for a certificate of urgency is for the benefit of other litigants who are about to be jumped in the queue but cannot speak for themselves. The judge quoted extensively from General Transport & Engineering (Pvt) Ltd & Ors v Zimbank Corp (Pvt) Ltd regarding the abuse of certificates of urgency, noting that it is an abuse for a lawyer to certify urgency where he does not genuinely believe the matter to be urgent, and that good faith can be tested by the reasonableness of the purported view. The court emphasized that the certifying lawyer carries a heavy responsibility in guiding and assisting the presiding judge, and this duty must be discharged conscientiously with due diligence. The court also noted that in this case the certifying lawyer's culpability was worse than in other cases because he certified the application as urgent without any idea as to the factual basis of the urgency.
This case reinforces the strict procedural requirements for urgent applications in Zimbabwe and by extension South African law (as both jurisdictions share similar procedural rules). It emphasizes that a certificate of urgency is not a mere formality but an essential component of an urgent application. The case serves as a warning to legal practitioners that they must genuinely apply their minds to the facts contained in the founding affidavit before certifying urgency, and that procedural shortcuts or carelessness will result in the dismissal of otherwise potentially meritorious applications. It illustrates the principle that urgent applications are extraordinary remedies requiring strict compliance with procedural requirements to protect the interests of other litigants in the queue.