JOHANNESBURG, South Africa – South African police say they have no active investigation into Wicknell Chivayo, the politically-connected Zimbabwean tender tycoon.

Zimbabwean investigators shut down probes linked to the awarding of contracts for the supply of election materials in 2023.

A company allegedly linked to Chivayo was paid over R1.6 billion to supply nearly all election materials, including ballot papers, biometric machines and stationery. Despite public outcry, the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission said it found no evidence of wrongdoing.

South Africa’s Financial Intelligence Centre (FIC) flagged several transactions totalling just over R800 million in payments to Chivayo by Renform CC, the company awarded the 2023 election contracts.

Now the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (DPCI), also known as the Hawks, has clarified that Chivayo is not under investigation. The statement comes after South Africa’s presidency, without naming him, suggested that Chivayo was under police investigation, as it sought to dismiss suggestions that he is known to president Cyril Ramaphosa.

This followed a May trip to Zimbabwe by Ramaphosa for a meeting with President Emmerson Mnangagwa, during which Chivayo flew on the same helicopter as the two leaders as a guest of Mnangagwa.

Hawks spokesperson colonel Katlego Mogale told News24 on Friday: “The DPCI has no such case [on Chivayo] in our system.”

The DPCI is a unit of the South African Police Service set up to prevent, combat and investigate national priority crimes, with a focus on serious organised crime, serious commercial crime and serious corruption. It also investigates transnational crimes, including money laundering, and would lead any investigation into alleged corruption involving a foreign national and R800 million.

The FIC, for its part, said it does not conduct investigations but provides financial intelligence reports to law enforcement and regulatory authorities for use in investigations and asset forfeiture.

Meanwhile, News24 has issued an apology to Chivayo after his high-powered legal team led by Advocate Dali Mpofu and Eric Mabuza threatened a lawsuit. The publication said it had “erroneously reported that Wicknell Chivayo was currently under investigation by the FIC and Hawks in connection with money laundering.”

“News24 apologises for the error,” it added.

The lawyers acting for Chivayo said the matter erroneously linked to the fraud claims was the civil divorce dispute involving Chivayo and his estranged wife, which they insisted “is not a criminal matter” and “does not constitute or involve any commission or allegation of fraud.”

They said assets such as the private jet, ZAS-ACT, which his estranged wife sought to have preserved through a non-dissipation order, belong not to Chivayo personally but to Intratrek Holdings, a company in which he is a shareholder and director.

The lawyers said the nature of the Pretoria High Court order obtained by his estranged wife earlier this year was a rule nisi – an interim order obtained through an ex parte application, meaning Chivayo was not heard at that initial stage. The High Court has since heard the matter and reserved judgement.

The lawyers welcomed the Hawks’ confirmation and News24’s correction as vindicating Chivayo, but said they would “assess the broader legal implications of these developments,” and reserved his right to pursue anyone who had falsely claimed he was under investigation.

They added: “Under the South African constitution, as indeed under the constitution of Zimbabwe and many other constitutional democracies, every person is presumed innocent until proven guilty by a competent court of law.

“Unfortunately, in the court of public opinion, our client had already been vilified and adjudged as guilty of an offence he never committed, and, in fact, of an offence which was not even under investigation.

“It is also important to place on record that no court within the Republic of South Africa has pronounced any criminal conviction against our client. Various statements attributed to certain political organisations and certain politicians fell substantially short of the accuracy of the facts.

“These statements which were broadly circulated predominantly on social media platforms were nothing more than conjecture and rhetoric, without any legal basis. The confirmation by the Hawks therefore settles that issue in very clear terms.”

In a statement on Sunday, Chivayo described the Hawks’ pronouncement as “the biggest vindication I have awaited for the longest time,” insisting the saga “was never about whether any fraud was committed” but was a politically-motivated campaign by “failed opposition leaders” in both countries still smarting from Zanu PF’s 2023 election win.

He cited a June 2024 Zimbabwe Electoral Commission statement clearing him and his companies of any role in supplying election materials, and dismissed suggestions his recent $10 million Cape Town property purchase or his estranged wife’s South African litigation involved frozen assets, saying his Bombardier Challenger ZS-ACT private jet was simply “in Basel receiving its annual major maintenance.”

He added: “I must commend the Hawks for being an impartial and factual investigative authority, which chose to look beyond mere conjecture and speculation in the court of public opinion and social media allegations or opposition political propaganda.

“This entire ordeal reaffirms what I have observed over my journey as a businessman which is highly regrettable. As Africans, we face a fundamental dichotomy and sad societal challenge that whenever a fellow young black African becomes successful, most people immediately start alleging that he uses juju or engaged in some illegal enterprise.

“I have endured the agony of such accusations by my own fellow African brothers and sisters, simply because some people find it difficult to accept that success can be achieved through sheer hard work. Across the racial divide, particularly among white monopoly capital, it still appears to remain an unacceptable phenomenon that a young black African businessman can become a billionaire through legitimate means.

“Anyone who is industrious, hardworking and enterprising can and should become successful regardless of their race, nationality, colour or creed.

“I highly welcome the pronouncement by the Hawks, and I believe it will finally and conclusively put an end to the unnecessary speculation around my name. I am a law-abiding citizen, a responsible business person and a philanthropist whose business activities are known. As I have said before, I am just an interesting person, not a person of interest.”

Chivayo has recently pledged multi-million-dollar investments in Kenya, Swaziland and Tanzania after meeting leaders of those countries.