Mnangagwa ally reported for corruption

President Emmerson Mnangagwa's business associate, Muller Conrad "Billy" Rautenbach, along with senior government ministers, has been reported to the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (ZACC) for alleged fraud and corruption involving the controversial seizure of Springs and Stuhm farms from indigenous farmers, including war veterans and high-profile public officials.

The complaint was filed by the Stuhm Farm Residents' Association, a grouping of ministers, MPs, public officials, and traditional chiefs who were allocated land at the farm. The dispute centres on the alleged irregular allocation of more than 900 hectares of public land to Rautenbach's company, Marimba Residential Properties (Pvt) Ltd, to facilitate an urban housing development project.

In a letter dated 17 July 2025, titled "Report of Suspected Corruption - Irregular Allocation of 903.072 Hectares of Public Land by Minister Daniel Garwe to Marimba Residential Properties (Pvt) Ltd," the association's secretary, Trevor Saruwaka, said they believed this was a clear case of high-level public sector corruption.

"I write on behalf of the Stuhm Residents' Association, of which I am secretary and also a beneficiary of Stand Number 1332," Saruwaka wrote. "We wish to formally report what we strongly believe to be a case of high-level public sector corruption involving the illegal allocation of large tracts of public land."

The land dispute has been further complicated by recent court rulings. High Court Justice Regis Dembure recently ruled against the eviction of indigenous farmers at Springs Farm in Goromonzi, Mashonaland East, describing the withdrawal of their offer letters by Lands and Agriculture Minister Anxious Masuka as "grossly unreasonable, irrational and defying logic."

Local Government Minister Daniel Garwe, who allocated the land to Rautenbach, is also implicated in the saga. The association's report to ZACC alleges that the allocation was done under a cloud of corruption, fraud, and blatant manipulation of legal processes.

Rautenbach's company was controversially allocated the land — with reported backing from President Mnangagwa — as supposed compensation for the loss of Aspindale Park, a property he was later found not to have legally owned. Evidence has emerged that Rautenbach was already in possession of the Springs Farm title deeds even before the legal processes had been concluded, raising serious questions about how the allocation was handled.

In another case reflecting similar controversies, High Court Judge Bongani Ndlovu in Bulawayo recently blocked Minister Garwe's attempt to seize Esidakeni Farm in Nyamandlovu, Matabeleland North, which is owned by prominent human rights lawyer Siphosami Malunga and his business partners Zephaniah Dlamini and Charles Moyo.

Representing the Springs Farm farmers, leading constitutional lawyer Professor Lovemore Madhuku argued that the Ministry of Lands' permanent secretary had improperly filed legal papers on behalf of the minister without written authority, rendering the defence invalid. Madhuku also cited legal precedent from an August 2024 High Court ruling, which stopped Masuka from arbitrarily withdrawing an offer letter from Chegutu businessman Christopher Rukawo.

Justice Dembure, in his judgement, found that the process to evict the farmers had been conducted in an arbitrary and inconsiderate manner, noting that the farmers had occupied and developed the land over a long period, making it their primary source of livelihood.

The unfolding saga has heightened scrutiny of land governance in Zimbabwe, with critics pointing to deep-seated corruption and abuse of office by politically connected individuals.