Tycoon Bredenkamp flees Zimbabwe
By Violet Gonda
7 June 2006
A major financial supporter to the Mugabe regime, John Bredenkamp is reported to have fled Zimbabwe Tuesday morning after his companies were raided by the state.
According to the state mouthpiece – The Herald Newspaper - the National Economic Conduct Inspectorate (NECI) raided Bredenkamp’s companies to investigate cases linked to economic crimes. The tycoon was allegedly being probed on allegations of flouting exchange control regulations, tax evasion and contravening the Citizenship Act.
The news has come as a surprise to many because the unscrupulous tycoon is well known as a key collaborator and business associate of many people in the ruling Zanu PF. Foreign journalist Andy Meldrum said; “He was involved in many business deals, many arms sales with government contracts in the DRC - at the time of the Zimbabwe arms involvement in the DRC, and also involved in trying to broker a land agreement between some white farmers and the government about three to four years ago.”
The businessman who has amassed a huge fortune and has a long and ‘colourful’ history in Zimbabwe had been spared scrutiny because of his ties to ZANU PF heavyweights like Emmerson Mnangagwa.
Some analyst say Bredenkamp’s “sell by date” had expired hence the investigations by the little known National Economic Conduct Inspectorate. It had also been established that Bredenkamp had more than one passport - a Zimbabwean passport expiring in 2013, a South African passport expiring in 2011 and a Dutch passport.
Bredenkamp was involved in sanctions busting for the Smith regime in return for a highly profitable concession to smuggle tobacco out of Rhodesia. Rhodesia also had an arms embargo but Meldrum said this did not deter Bredenkamp; “ When he became adapt to at evading international sanctions he then learnt that instead of selling tobacco you could do much better – according to reports – if you sold international arms.”
Soon after independence in 1980 Bredenkamp is said to have switched horses and became an associate of Robert Mugabe and ZANU PF.
Educated at Prince Edward School in Harare he is estimated to have a personal fortune of over £440 million. A few years ago he was listed in the UK Sunday Times as having one of the largest fortunes in Britain.
But despite being one of those believed to have kept the Mugabe regime in power it seems his days of living in style in Zimbabwe were numbered. Observers say he is probably being targeted now because of his close links with Emmerson Mnangagwa the ZANU PF chef who is considered to have lost favour with the party’s top officials. But Andrew Meldrum said; “ I think there is an even greater moral to the story which is – when you are doing business with ZANU PF you better be careful because they can turn on you.”
He said flamboyant businessman Philip Chiyangwa and exiled businessman Mutumwa Mawere are living examples of people who fell foul of ZANU PF.
The Herald reported that Bredenkamp fled Tuesday morning to an unknown location. Meldrum says the wealthy businessman would not have a difficult time looking for a place to stay as he has a large estate in Britain and an Island in Mozambique, among other trappings of luxury.