Hazel Chipo Taruvinga v Godwin Kushamba and Priscillar Kushamba and Master of the High Court

The applicant, an aunt residing in the United Kingdom, applied for the appointment of a curator for a minor child born on 1 December 2007. The applicant claimed that before she moved to the United Kingdom, she had assisted the child's parents in looking after the child and intended to apply for guardianship. Both of the child's parents were alive at the time of the application. At the time the court dismissed the application on 19 November 2025, the child was 11 days away from turning 18 and attaining majority.

• Whether a third party can apply for the appointment of a curator for a minor child where both parents are alive
• Whether the chamber application for appointment of a curator was the appropriate procedure in the circumstances
• Under what circumstances parents can surrender guardianship to a third party

The chamber application for the appointment of a curator for the minor child was dismissed.

Where both parents of a minor child are alive, a third party cannot obtain guardianship through a chamber application for the appointment of a curator. The legal position is that parents can only surrender guardianship to a third party through the adoption process, which must be conducted in the Magistrate's court by way of a proper enquiry in accordance with Kutsanzira v The Master 2012 (2) 91 (H).

The court observed that the child in question was only 11 days away from attaining majority at the time the order was dismissed, implying that even if the application had been procedurally proper, it would have been practically pointless given the imminent attainment of majority by the child.

This case reaffirms the principle that where both parents of a minor child are alive, a third party cannot simply apply for curatorship or guardianship through a chamber application. It reinforces that the proper procedure for transferring guardianship from parents to third parties is through the adoption process in the Magistrate's court, protecting parental rights and ensuring proper judicial oversight of guardianship matters. The case also demonstrates judicial efficiency in dismissing applications that are moot or inappropriate, particularly where a child is about to attain majority.