Simba Chitando alleged in court papers yesterday that he himself had been excluded from work at the bar on shipping law matters because he is black and Zimbabwean.

Shipping law

Mr Chitando, now operating in Cape Town, is currently involved in a growing legal battle with three of his senior colleagues at the Cape Bar and four of the big commercial firms, reports BD Live.
In one case, Mr Chitando has accused law firms Webber Wentzel, Norton Rose, Bowman Gilfillan and Shepstone & Wylie of racism and xenophobia after he did not receive any briefs in shipping law matters despite earning a master’s degree in commercial law with a dissertation in shipping law.

Competition Tribunal

In another case, Mr Chitando has asked the Competition Tribunal to ban three seniors at the Cape Bar due to ‘racial and xenophobic’ anti-competitive practices.
The three accused have claimed that Mr Chitando is motivated by self-interest and also accused him of attempted extortion after alleging the lawyer emailed an offer to withdraw the case for R300,000. He said it was a genuine ‘without prejudice’ offer to settle the case.