Chivayo cleared in SA fraud probe

South Africa's Financial Intelligence Centre (FIC) and the country's elite crime-fighting unit, the Hawks, have confirmed that Zimbabwean businessman Wicknell Chivayo is not under investigation over allegations linked to the procurement of materials for Zimbabwe's 2023 harmonised elections.

The clarification follows claims circulated on social media and in online reports alleging that Chivayo was being investigated by South African authorities for money laundering in connection with the procurement of election materials valued at more than R800 million.

According to the reports, Johannesburg-based printing company Ren-Form was contracted by the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) to supply election materials and allegedly received more than R1.1 billion from Zimbabwe's Treasury, with over R800 million purportedly flowing into accounts linked to Chivayo.

Responding to the allegations, the FIC said it does not conduct criminal investigations but instead provides financial intelligence to law enforcement agencies and other competent authorities.

"The FIC Act prevents FIC from disclosing whether or not it has received regulatory reports and whether or not it has produced financial intelligence on any matter or individual," the agency said.

Hawks spokesperson Colonel Katlego Mogale also dismissed the claims, saying: "The DPCI has no such case in our system."

The allegations had also prompted reporting by South African news outlet News24, which published articles claiming Chivayo was under investigation over alleged money laundering involving the election procurement deal. Those reports were later retracted, with the publication issuing an apology after receiving legal representations from Chivayo's attorneys.

Chivayo's legal team, led by Advocate Dali Mpofu and attorney Eric Mabuza, argued that the reports falsely linked their client to criminal activity and had caused significant reputational harm.

"The false and malicious allegations have been and continue to be injurious and detrimental to Mr Chivayo's good name and reputation," the lawyers said in correspondence to the publication.

The lawyers welcomed the confirmation from the Hawks, saying it vindicated their client.

"We welcome the confirmation by the South African Police Service, through the Hawks, that our client is not under any investigation and that there is no such case in their system relating to the alleged R800 million fraud," they said.

They added that the confirmation corrected what they described as a false public perception that Chivayo had been under criminal investigation.

The legal team also addressed claims surrounding Chivayo's South African assets, saying reports that they had been frozen were inaccurate. They said the only proceedings in South Africa related to a civil matrimonial dispute with his estranged wife and involved an interim rule nisi rather than a final order. They further argued that the assets in question belonged to corporate entities rather than Chivayo personally.

According to the lawyers, the divorce proceedings in Zimbabwe have since been concluded through a consent order under which Chivayo paid his estranged wife US$5 million in full and final settlement of the divorce claim and for the upkeep of their minor children. They contend that the resolution of the Zimbabwean proceedings has substantially weakened the basis for the interim preservation proceedings in South Africa.

The developments follow an earlier announcement by the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission that it had found no evidence linking Chivayo, the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission or the South African printing company to fraud in the procurement of election materials for the 2023 harmonised elections.