THE legal battle between Youth Minister Tinoda Machakaire and opposition politician Fadzai Mahere continues with their defamation dispute set for hearing on May 14.

The dispute stems from a defamation claim Machakaire filed last year, seeking US$50,000 in damages from Mahere.

Mahere also filed counter claims against the minister and has applied for a default judgment, claiming that the Minister was barred from responding to her counterclaim because he had allegedly approached the courts with “dirty hands.”

The matter had been scheduled for hearing but was adjourned after the legal representatives of both parties—advocate Thabani Mpofu for Mahere and advocate Tinomudaishe Chinyoka for Machakaire—agreed to a postponement.

“Among the issues the respondent raised in the notice of opposition was one that caused me to withdraw the application, namely that she had raised a special plea of dirty hands and that because that had not been determined, I could not file any pleadings.

“I can confirm that the special plea was indeed set down for hearing and heard by Justice Tawanda Chitapi. At the hearing of the special plea, I raised a point in limine that the special plea had not been properly brought before the court as the time within which to raise such had expired.

“The special plea was not argued. The court reserved judgment on the point in limine, which is why I was shocked to see on the IECMS portal a pleading called ‘Affidavit of Evidence’ filed by the respondent on 28 October 2025, in which she claims that I was automatically barred for failure to lodge a plea.

“This was a precursor to an application for default judgment. Indeed, in no time, I saw a notice of set down on the portal confirming that the respondent’s application for default judgment would be heard by this court on 19 November 2025,” Machakaire said.

He added that his legal team had written to Mahere, asserting that both the affidavit of evidence and the application for default judgment were procedurally flawed, and requested that they be withdrawn.

Despite this, Mahere allegedly refused to retract the filings, maintaining that they were legitimate.

“The respondent cannot seek a default judgment against me because there is no bar in place. First, her counterclaim was filed irregularly. It is invalid; nothing flows from an invalid proceeding. This application was both unnecessary and entirely avoidable. Costs must be granted on an attorney-client scale,” Machakaire said.

As the legal wrangling continues, all attention now turns to 14 May, when the court will decide whether Mahere can regain ground.