By Sports Reporter
GERALD Mlotshwa, the lawyer representing former Zimbabwe cricket team coach Heath Streak has dismissed recent reports that his client has reached a settlement for the payment of dues owed to him by his former employer Zimbabwe Cricket.
The prominent Harare lawyer made the revelations in a response to recent state media report claiming that the two parties had reached a settlement “in a landmark development that brings to an end the ugly legal fallout between the two parties.”
In a strongly worded response to the article, Mlotshwa rubbished the report, describing it as “grossly misleading and factually incorrect”.
“We make reference to an article appearing in the Herald paper of the 11th instant headed “Streak, ZC Reach Settlement.”
“The article insinuates that the parties in this matter have reached a settlement in respect of claims for unlawful dismissal and non-payment of salaries and wages by our clients against Zimbabwe Cricket.
“Kindly note that the article is grossly misleading and is factually incorrect in so far as it purports to paint a picture that there has been any amicable resolution of this matter,” he said.
He added: “It is further noted, that, and in a disturbing pattern regarding the reporting of Zimbabwe Cricket’s many labour and governance problems by the Herald, no attempt whatsoever had been made to obtain comment from ourselves or our clients in respect of this article.”
“For the record, the correspondence quoted in the article, dating back to the 9th June, 2018 had not, as at date of the article, not been responded to by Zimbabwe Cricket’s legal practitioners.”
Mlotshwa, who is also representing all Zimbabwean cricketers, who are part of the newly formed representative body, also took a swipe at the state-run publication’s reportage of ZC’s governance issues and its recent labour disputes with players and officials.
“Being privy to the many issues afflicting cricket in Zimbabwe, we respectfully implore Herald Sport to report fairly and objectively in relation to the issues arising at that Union – presently, and citing the above example, the several articles by the paper, particularly in the last few weeks, appear desperate to paint a picture that all is well and under control within Zimbabwe Cricket, when the opposite is true- this is a fact we are intimately aware of.
“In short, the paper should with the greatest of respect, avoid being complicit in the nonsense existing within Zimbabwe Cricket,” he said.
Streak, who was the national cricket team head coach from October 2016 until after the 2018 ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier in April, was axed – alongside his assistant Lance Klusener and fitness trainer Sean Bell.
The trio engaged Mlotshwa of Titan Law firm, and challenged the manner in which they were dismissed as well as the payment of dues owed to them.
