CAPE TOWN, South Africa – President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s close associate and powerful businessman, Kudakwashe Tagwirei, has been named in a bombshell corruption and organized crime report submitted to President Cyril Ramaphosa, sparking regional alarm over growing cross-border criminal syndicates linked to political elites.
The report, compiled by KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Police Commissioner, General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi, alleges that top Zanu PF officials—some directly tied to Zimbabwe’s presidency—are actively involved in high-level criminal operations within South Africa. The findings, now circulating in security and intelligence circles, outline a deeply entrenched network of illicit financial flows, political violence, and military involvement with roots extending into Zimbabwe’s ruling elite.
At the heart of the report is the claim that prominent Zimbabwean figures, including Kudakwashe Tagwirei and flamboyant businessman Wicknell Chivayo, have been facilitating the laundering of illicit funds out of South Africa. The commissioner asserts that their operations—under the protection and sanction of top Zimbabwean officials—have aided in the movement of dirty money, gold, and high-value goods across the South Africa-Zimbabwe border, in direct defiance of international sanctions imposed on Zimbabwean elites.
Tagwirei, already sanctioned by both the United States and the United Kingdom for corruption and state capture in Zimbabwe, is painted as a central figure in a transnational financial network that uses Zimbabwe as a hub to cleanse money obtained from organized crime in South Africa.
Perhaps the most chilling claim in Mkhwanazi’s report is that Zanu PF is allegedly supplying “untraceable, military-trained gunmen” to criminal gangs in KwaZulu-Natal. These individuals, believed to be serving or former members of the Zimbabwe National Army (ZNA), are said to be involved in politically motivated assassinations and violent criminal activities, particularly in provinces with a history of political tension and instability.
Tagwirei and Zanu PF Named in Explosive South African Corruption and Crime Report
“These are not ordinary criminals,” the report says. “They are professionally trained operatives with combat experience. They carry out targeted killings and vanish across the border, shielded by political influence and false identities.”
This revelation challenges the long-held belief that South Africa’s violent crimes, including cash-in-transit heists, are solely the work of local syndicates. Instead, Mkhwanazi warns that foreign military actors—linked to Zanu PF—are operating with impunity inside South Africa, aided by corrupt elements within the ruling African National Congress (ANC).
In a bold and unprecedented move, Mkhwanazi has urged President Ramaphosa to directly confront President Mnangagwa over the issue, particularly during the recent summit of former liberation movements held in Southern Africa. The commissioner argued that Zimbabwe’s leadership is actively undermining South Africa’s fight against crime by offering safe haven and logistical support to criminals wanted across the border.
“The protection of criminal elements under the guise of regional solidarity is untenable,” Mkhwanazi’s report states. “The ANC cannot continue to turn a blind eye while Zanu PF exports crime into our communities.”
In his most damning assessment, Mkhwanazi described Zimbabwe’s ruling party not as a liberation movement, but as a “criminal organisation” that is enriching itself and its ANC counterparts at the expense of the region’s ordinary citizens.
“Zanu PF has morphed into a mafia-style entity. It uses state resources and security services to advance criminal enterprise while shielding those involved from prosecution,” the report reads.
This language is likely to further strain diplomatic relations between Harare and Pretoria, particularly as South Africa heads into its own heated political season marked by allegations of corruption and public discontent over crime.
The report’s implications stretch far beyond Zimbabwe and South Africa. It underscores the growing concern over how entrenched political networks in southern Africa are fuelling organized crime, weakening regional law enforcement cooperation, and eroding democratic institutions.
With Zimbabwe’s 2023 elections still under scrutiny and South Africa’s law enforcement under immense pressure to tackle high crime rates, the alleged involvement of high-profile Zimbabwean figures like Tagwirei could prove politically explosive.
For now, both the Zimbabwean government and Tagwirei have not issued official responses to the allegations. However, opposition politicians in both countries are already seizing on the revelations as proof of state capture and the need for urgent reform.
As Mkhwanazi’s report continues to reverberate through political and security circles, one thing is clear: the border between South Africa and Zimbabwe is no longer just a line on the map—it’s the front line of a battle against a new breed of transnational political and economic criminality.
