The Zimbabwean Government is violating the constitution by forcing Zim motorists to buy ZANU PF businessman Billy Rautenbach’s “urine” (as it is now infamously referred as), ethanol blended fuel, the Constitutional Court is expected to rule.
The Constitutional Court is preparing to decide on the thorny case presented by top barrister Tendai Biti representing his client Mr Tabani Mpofu, who contests on the constitutionality of mandatory petrol blending in its entirety.
While the Jonathan Moyo media claimed that Mr Biti is fightin on the constitutionality of mandatory petrol blending to levels beyond E10, the truth and facts on the case are that the lawsuit is in fact about mandatory petrol blending in its entirety.
Prof Moyo’s journalists last month further claimed saying that “the Constitutional Court has no jurisdiction to determine issues pertaining to the blending of fuel because that decision must be made by the Executive,” an argument spoon-fed by Green Fuel Advocate Adrian De Bourbon.
Adv De Bourbon said the courts should leave issues to do with the blending ratios to the Executive and that the court should not be called upon to make such Executive decisions. He urged the court to dismiss the blending challenge on the basis that it was not properly before the court.
State Media journos claim that Mr Mpofu did not establish any breach of the fundamental rights as enshrined in the Bill of Rights and that his application was wrongly before the court.
But Mr Tendai Biti argues that the constitutional rights of Mr Tabani and subsequently other Zimbabweans have been breached by forcing people to buy the fuel which is incompatible with numerous vehicles.
ZimEye caught up with Mr Biti soon after the court hearing last month and he voiced confidence that he will win the case. “We are very confident.Yes the judge was very sympathetic and the judgement was reserved, but I haven’t read the Herald,” he said.
Biti reiterated his legal argument now twisted by the Herald newspaper which claimed that he is fighting Green Fuel on the basis of mandatory blending of levels beyond the E10 class.
“That’s not the argument,” said Biti.
He continued, “the argument is on choice.
“When it’s there people must be able to buy it and import it from anywhere, with hydrocarbon, fellow companies import form Kuwait, from Saudi Arabia, from Venezuela, from Angola, from Nigeria, any country with oil. Why is it that with unhydronous ethanol, we are being forced to buy locally where the production costs are very high? You have got countries like Brazil and America, the two largest producers of ethanol fuel who are [selling it a far much lower prices] (sic). Here we are buying it at 140cents a litre. So then this is a Rautenbach law because of ZANU PF corruption,” said Biti.
“Our argument is that it is unconstitutional to force people to consume one product. People should have a right to choose,” he said.
Biti further added that the Zimbabwe Energy Regulatory Authority does not have powers to regulate ethanol, which is an agricultural product.
He said the Petroleum Act could not be used to regulate ethanol, hence the regulations for the blending of fuel with ethanol were not in sync with the parent Act.
Mr Biti said motorists were denied the right to choose the fuel type they want through the Statutory Instruments on mandatory blending.
On behalf of zera, Mr Raphael Tsivama said there was no breach of the Constitution and that the regulations were not divorced from the Petroleum Act.
He said petrol remained a petroleum product despite the fact that it would have been mixed with ethanol and that there was no discrimination as all people were subjected to the same regulations of mandatory blending.
Chief Justice Godfrey Chidyausiku, sitting with eight other judges, reserved judgement after hearing the arguments.
In the application, Mr Mpofu cited, zera, Energy and Power Development Minister Dzikamai Mavhaire and GreenFuel as respondents.
Government introduced mandatory blending ratios of E15 on November 30 2013 and wanted the ratios increased to E20 by March this year.
But Mr Mpofu took ZERA, Minister Mavhaire and Green Fuel to court over the issue. He filed the application at the Constitutional Court last December challenging Green Fuel’s monopoly and blending ratios. Mr Mpofu argued that the monopoly and blending ratios did not guarantee fair competition and were not in the interest of motorists.
The blending started with five percent ethanol and 95 percent unleaded petrol on August 15, following the issuance of an ethanol production (mandatory blending) licence to Green Fuel on August 5.
 
Meanwhile outside the court case, other controversies have been to do with vital environmental assessment studies which were never performed before commencing the project and recently environentalists have fired a warning that Rautenbach is poisoning rivers and destroying the ecosystem through the ethanol production.  READ MORE Rautenbach responsible for water poisoning, & shooting of villagers’ cattle –