South Africa has started investigating Wicknell Chivayo for missing R800 million. Reports say Zimbabwe paid over R1.1 billion to a South African printing company for election stuff last year. Most of that cash went straight into bank accounts linked to Chivayo. The Financial Intelligence Centre dug through records between April 2023 and May 2024. They found fishy transfers that caught the eye of police and tax people who might arrest him soon.
The money trail points right at Ren-Form CC, a Johannesburg company. This business was picked without any public bidding process to make materials for Zimbabwe's elections. After the treasury had put money in their account, more than R800 million zipped away to Chivayo's companies, Intratrek Holdings and Dolintel Trading Enterprise. Chivayo has been in trouble before, even going to jail in 2017 for fraud when a power company deal fell apart. He bounced back by making friends with big politicians.
His close ties with President Mnangagwa raise questions, as his name keeps popping up around huge government contracts. Nobody would have known about the Ren-Form deal except for a fight between Chivayo and his buddies Mike Chimombe and Moses Mpofu. They leaked recordings in which these men argued about splitting money from the election contract. Chivayo bragged about paying officials to win the deal. Later, he said sorry to important people but never denied making payments.
Those leaks showed how prices for election items went sky-high. A server worth R90,000 somehow cost R23 million on paper. Portable toilets each cost R68,700, nearly seven times their real price. Voter registration machines first listed at $5,000 each ended up costing $16,000. Compare that to similar machines the United Nations bought for Honduras at just $3,600 each. Money kept flowing after hitting Chivayo's accounts, spreading fast to many different places.
The government paid another R156 million directly to Edenbreeze, yet another Chivayo company, claiming it covered technical services. Financial watchdogs noticed strange patterns with large round numbers moving through his accounts. He spent R36 million from his personal account buying fancy cars. More millions went to lawyers, car sellers, travel agents, and mystery companies. Major cash flowed to Asibambeki Platinum Group, which got R351 million, and Kumba Group received R28.8 million.
Other companies also received smaller millions, including Indo Logistics, Daytona luxury cars, Flight Centre SA, NN Truck and Trailer, a law firm called Strauss Scher Inc., and even a Zimbabwe makeup brand. Despite Chivayo claiming all deals were honest business, South African officials seem unconvinced. They shared their findings with Zimbabwe authorities, who have taken little action. Anti-corruption officials in Zimbabwe first promised to investigate but went silent. Many believe that political pressure stopped progress.
Chimombe and Mpofu were both arrested in Zimbabwe for unrelated corruption cases and denied bail. Critics say this happened just to keep them quiet about the bigger scandal. Ren-Form denies any wrongdoing but must explain why it kept only R300 million from the R1.1 billion payment. Evidence keeps building against both company officials and government people. Chivayo might finally face serious legal problems, not in his home country but across the border in South Africa.
The money trail points right at Ren-Form CC, a Johannesburg company. This business was picked without any public bidding process to make materials for Zimbabwe's elections. After the treasury had put money in their account, more than R800 million zipped away to Chivayo's companies, Intratrek Holdings and Dolintel Trading Enterprise. Chivayo has been in trouble before, even going to jail in 2017 for fraud when a power company deal fell apart. He bounced back by making friends with big politicians.
His close ties with President Mnangagwa raise questions, as his name keeps popping up around huge government contracts. Nobody would have known about the Ren-Form deal except for a fight between Chivayo and his buddies Mike Chimombe and Moses Mpofu. They leaked recordings in which these men argued about splitting money from the election contract. Chivayo bragged about paying officials to win the deal. Later, he said sorry to important people but never denied making payments.
Those leaks showed how prices for election items went sky-high. A server worth R90,000 somehow cost R23 million on paper. Portable toilets each cost R68,700, nearly seven times their real price. Voter registration machines first listed at $5,000 each ended up costing $16,000. Compare that to similar machines the United Nations bought for Honduras at just $3,600 each. Money kept flowing after hitting Chivayo's accounts, spreading fast to many different places.
The government paid another R156 million directly to Edenbreeze, yet another Chivayo company, claiming it covered technical services. Financial watchdogs noticed strange patterns with large round numbers moving through his accounts. He spent R36 million from his personal account buying fancy cars. More millions went to lawyers, car sellers, travel agents, and mystery companies. Major cash flowed to Asibambeki Platinum Group, which got R351 million, and Kumba Group received R28.8 million.
Other companies also received smaller millions, including Indo Logistics, Daytona luxury cars, Flight Centre SA, NN Truck and Trailer, a law firm called Strauss Scher Inc., and even a Zimbabwe makeup brand. Despite Chivayo claiming all deals were honest business, South African officials seem unconvinced. They shared their findings with Zimbabwe authorities, who have taken little action. Anti-corruption officials in Zimbabwe first promised to investigate but went silent. Many believe that political pressure stopped progress.
Chimombe and Mpofu were both arrested in Zimbabwe for unrelated corruption cases and denied bail. Critics say this happened just to keep them quiet about the bigger scandal. Ren-Form denies any wrongdoing but must explain why it kept only R300 million from the R1.1 billion payment. Evidence keeps building against both company officials and government people. Chivayo might finally face serious legal problems, not in his home country but across the border in South Africa.
