From his prison cell Moti kept a tight rein over his businesses, micromanaging operations in Zimbabwe by, for instance, enquiring about technical details of the chrome wash plants, giving instructions on cost cutting, and enquiring about fuel cost calculations in letters that sometimes ran thousands of words long. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Among the first people Moti and his closest associates turned to in his hour of need was Mnangagwa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On 30 August Kaka wrote to the president \u201chumbly\u201d requesting his assistance in \u201cfacilitating\u201d a meeting between himself and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa to discuss Moti\u2019s arrest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kaka told amaBhungane: \u201cIt is correct that I requested President Mnangagwa to facilitate a meeting with myself and President Ramaphosa of South Africa, to assist in Moti\u2019s release. Moti was arrested unlawfully and this was subsequently vindicated by his release and the Interpol release statement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAt the time, the South African government, in my view, did not play its part in Moti\u2019s release. No meeting took place between myself and President Ramaphosa as President Mnangagwa did not want to get involved in the internal matters between South Africa and its citizen.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Moti told us, \u201cI have shown that I was detained in Germany unlawfully, and that I was innocent. Now imagine if you found yourself in a similar situation. You are an innocent person being held in Germany, facing possible extradition to Russia where the authorities are notoriously brutal. Would you not ask any and all of your acquaintances for assistance?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI have met and engaged with both President Mnangagwa and Vice President Chiwenga through the years I have actively invested in Zimbabwe. Facing extradition to Russia, I wrote to several influential figures including President Ramaphosa and Lord Peter Hain asking for any assistance they may be able to provide. There is nothing illegal about this.\u201d
In another letter early on in his detention, Moti asked Mnangagwa to convince German Chancellor Angela Merkel to intervene in his arrest, writing: \u201cPls can you write a letter to Mrs Merkel of Germany requesting her input into this matter as I am a friend of the Zimbabwean people uncle.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Moti questioned the authenticity of the letters and told us, \u201cI don\u2019t know what you base your assumptions on since you refuse to let me have sight of the documents, nor do you actually ask a question. You infer an improper relationship between me and President Mnangagwa, and state that the matter at hand was my imprisonment in Germany, but you base this on the flimsiest unconfirmed writings from unknown sources. In any event, I can confirm that President Mnangagwa did not write any such letter to Mrs Merkel.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\nYet Moti\u2019s closeness to Mnangagwa and Chiwenga appeared to be on full display in his prison letters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In one letter addressed to \u201cuncle\u201d, a term he often used to refer to Mnangagwa, Moti wrote in apparent reference to Mnangagwa\u2019s inauguration: \u201cCongratulations to you my uncle and Zimbabwe. I never one day doubted you. I\u2019m sorry I couldn\u2019t attend your ceremony uncle\u2026 Uncle I love you… My loyalty to you as a son is I hope seen and appreciated by you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Moti told us, \u201cPresident Mnangagwa and I know each other and have a fondness for one another. If I wrote a personal letter to President Mnangagwa, then there is nothing illegal about this. \u201c<\/p>\n\n\n\n
To Chiwenga, or \u201cBrother CDF\u201d as he referred to him, Moti wrote: \u201cPlease call my father and go see him brother. Hold him tight and give him my love my dear brother. Do this for me. He, like me, loves you very much CDF.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\nCDF appears to stand for \u201ccommander of the defence force\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Moti\u2019s attentiveness to the wants of his political patrons showed great attention to detail. At one stage he wrote, \u201cI sent uncle and 2IC nuts. They love those roasted ones.\u201d A follow-up letter of his read: \u201cFeedback on 1 and 2. Nuts eaten etc.\u201d If \u201cnuts\u201d was a codeword for something else, it\u2019s unclear what.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Throughout the documents, \u201cNo1\u201d or \u201cUncle\u201d are used to refer to President Mnangagwa, while \u201cNo2\u201d or \u201cCDF\u201d are used for his deputy, Chiwenga.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Moti has questioned this, saying that No1 could refer to the person in charge of ACF operations in Zimbabwe, and CDF could stand for \u201cChrome Development Foreman\u201d, while references to Tagwirei as \u201cKuda\u201d could in theory \u201cbe anyone\u201d as it \u201cis a common name in Zimbabwe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But the correspondence between Moti and his associates provides contextual evidence as to who these names likely refer to.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There is for example an update from Kaka mentioning a meeting in September 2018, after which \u201cNo1 left for New York\u201d \u2013 the same time Mnangagwa travelled to New York to attend the UN General Assembly for the first time as head of state. When an October 2018 letter from a Moti Group employee noted that CDF was \u201creally ill\u201d, Chiwenga\u2019s illness was publicly reported at the same time.<\/p>\n\n\n
\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n
Unguarded<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nMoti\u2019s desperation is palpable in his letters, and in his moment of need he was remarkably unguarded about what he put in writing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In one letter that appears to have been digitally transcribed by one of his employees, Moti instructed his assistant to \u201ctake $30\u201d (which may have been a reference to 30,000 US dollars though this is unclear) to \u201cNo1\u201d and \u201cread my letter to him as well as let him see that I care for him and don\u2019t forget him ever\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Moti also instructed the assistant to \u201ctake $20\u201d to CDF(2) \u2013 an abbreviation of Chiwenga\u2019s title as commander of the defence forces and number two to Mnangagwa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Although the transcription is not entirely clear, one of Moti\u2019s letters appeared to refer to \u201cuncle\u201d and CDF (in other words Mnangagwa and Chiwenga) as being \u201cequity partners\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Moti told us, \u201cAgain, there is no evidence that this letter has not been altered. ‘Uncle’ and ‘him’ obviously does not refer to the President and Vice President since they are not shareholders in any of the operations in Zimbabwe and have never been. Again, you assume that either of these figures are ‘hidden’ partners. They are not, nor have ever been partners in ACF or Spincash.\u201d
An October 2018 memo on the Moti Groups\u2019 debt to Investec Bank proposed, as part of an overall restructuring of the debt, to increase the Bank\u2019s interest in the Group\u2019s South African chrome marketing subsidiary Africhrome in which Tagwirei had rights to a portion of income.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The document is heavily annotated and edited, and is likely a transcription of a letter on which Moti provided comments from prison. The metadata shows it was authored on his personal assistant\u2019s computer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Point \u201cd\u201d of the letter is particularly illuminating, as there is a deleted line which reads: \u201c30% to Moti current shareholding to be allocated to Indigenization Partners\u201d. Alongside that someone inserted the following comment: \u201cDo we include this in the bank proposal? This will be the first official communication to that effect.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n
\n
In red font that appears to be a transcription of Moti\u2019s response, it is written: \u201cThis goes to No1 and No2 but Kuda\u2026 it\u201d \u2013 the missing word or words likely the result of whoever transcribed Moti\u2019s writing being unable to read them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One interpretation of the letter is that Moti was allocating a portion of his earnings in Africhrome to Tagwirei, who was acting as a proxy for Mnangagwa and Chiwenga.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Moti told amaBhungane, \u201cI can unequivocally state that nothing was paid to Mnangagwa or Chiwenga, as they held no interest in the Africhrome transaction\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n
Dispute<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nMoti\u2019s prison letters reflect an ongoing dispute between him and his politically-connected Zimbabwean business partner Tagwirei over money, to the extent that he sought the intervention of Mnangagwa and Chiwenga.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At one stage he instructed his assistant to tell Chiwenga to put pressure on Tagwirei and tell him \u201cto be honourable and pay his dues\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Internal Moti Group correspondence concerning the dispute with Tagwirei suggests that Moti\u2019s appeals to \u201cNumber One\u201d and \u201cNumber Two\u201d did not fall on deaf ears.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The two politicians appear to have been actively involved in brokering negotiations between Moti and Tagwirei and, in effect, helping Moti collect his debts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
According to an update from Kaka, a meeting was held with \u201cNo2 and Kuda\u201d on 4 September after Tagwirei failed meet an agreement to pay $10-million by 3 September.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tagwirei again missed a deadline to pay the money and arrangements for him to pay \u201cthrough bonds and later through police commissioner debt to him\u201d came to nothing \u201cdespite sitting ins and discussions with No1 and No2\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Moti\u2019s associates kept up the pressure on Tagwirei through Mnangagwa and Chiwenga.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kaka\u2019s update continued: \u201cWednesday 19 September 2018, met with No1 who confirmed that he met with Kuda on Tuesday night\u2026 and undertook to pay the balance (making plans to organize the funds). No1 left for New York and said No2 will deal with the matter. Went to meet with No2 and said that he will follow up.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kaka told amaBhungane that as a shareholder, Tagwirei had various financial obligations to ACF, which were managed by ACF and the Moti Group\u2019s treasury department.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After Moti\u2019s arrest, Kaka says he \u201cwas requested to approach [Tagwirei] to make payments in terms of his obligations\u201d, and that because ACF had National Project status he, Kaka, was responsible for reporting to President\u2019s office (which included the Vice-President\u2019s office) on the \u201cfinancial status of ACF as a foreign direct investor\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tagwirei\u2019s failure to pay on time meant further appeals to Chiwenga and a meeting between him and Kaka on 25 September.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Such disputes became a recurring theme in the relationship between Moti and his Zimbabwean partner, eliciting furious outbursts in Moti\u2019s unfiltered letters. In one letter he referred to Tagwirei as a \u201cblack dog\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\nMoti told us, \u201cMy relationship with Tagwirei is a commercial one which came into existence before he was sanctioned. \u201c<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The attempts to get Tagwirei to pay up proved exhausting, and in later letters Moti continued to urge his employees to \u201cpush\u201d Number One and Number Two on dealing with Kuda.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n
Pushing No1 & No2<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nFrom what amaBhungane has pieced together from Moti Group documents, Moti and his associates were able to convince the two most powerful men in Zimbabwe to personally attend to them on multiple occasions within one month alone, and there are other clues in Moti\u2019s prison letters pointing to Mnangagwa and Chiwenga being personally involved in Moti Group business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Often these are just vague or truncated sentences, such as a line in a letter to an associate at commodities giant Glencore in which Moti notes \u201cWe on the game with No 1 etc\u201d, or an instruction to \u201cPush No1, No2 and Kuda. They must help us\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Moti told us, “Again, it falls to me to remind you that you refused to provide me with the opportunity to authenticate any of the alleged documents\u2026 You should be reminded that there can be no legitimate means of acquiring these documents. Maybe you can explain why my constitutional right to privacy should be illegally breached to allow you to write a character assassination piece.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At other times, Moti\u2019s remarks are direct and specific, such as when Moti gave guidance to Kaka: \u201cGet on the No1 good side Kaka. Cosy up to him. Explain to him that Kuda not being right and he is the only guy to tell Kuda to do right.\u201d Or when he asked about \u201cthe claims No1 promised us? Are doing anything to push him Bro? ACF.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Moti told us, \u201cAll the claims acquired by ACF were on sound commercial terms and legitimately bought. No party has ever \u201cpromised\u201d or given ACF claims for free.\u201d
In a long 22 October 2018 letter to his team, Moti wrote: \u201cWe need to engage #1 and #2 and express our concerns with them so that between Kuda and No1 we need the govt now to allocate government grants as he promised us.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the letter, Moti articulated his preferred strategy for ACF to \u201ccrowd\u201d the Great Dyke \u2013 a geological feature where most of Zimbabwe\u2019s chrome deposits are found \u2013 but to take over the area quietly to avoid others piling in and so as not to create \u201c\u2018hype\u2019 in the market as prices will go mad\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The wording is somewhat ambiguous, but in essence it appears that Moti intended to capitalise on the so-called \u201cuse it or lose it\u201d policy that compelled holders of mining rights to exploit their concessions or risk losing them. The policy was supposed to prohibit the holding of mining titles for speculative purposes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Moti would scoop up mining claims by getting Mnangagwa and Chiwenga \u201cthrough ministry of mines to get claims and push the policy of [\u2018use of lose\u2019] process\u2019\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The letter suggests that part of his strategy would involve the two senior politicians pressuring big companies into relinquishing claims, potentially by threatening them with the \u201cuse it or lose it\u201d policy. \u201c<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Some of the people and companies mentioned are only accessible via No1,\u201d Moti wrote, \u201cGet an \u2018in principle\u2019 agreement with No1 and No2 and then this will further drive via MOM [Ministry of Mines] offices else you just wasting your time as the companies will want big money\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Responding to amaBhungane, Kaka said that Mnangagwa\u2019s government had a policy of promoting large-scale mining and resource exports. To do this, the Ministry of Mines together with the President\u2019s office, would \u201cfacilitate\u201d the acquisition of claims by large companies \u201csuch that they could have larger tracts of land\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAccordingly, discussions in this regard took place in Zimbabwe, particularly in the mining industry, with much regularity with the government to boost the mining industry after Mugabe\u2019s demise. Hence, there was no special treatment exclusive to ACF”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Moti told us, \u201cI would like to point out that requesting a politician to provide introductions between the sellers of possible claims and a company interested in buying these claims, is not illegal. The letter clearly instructs the company to attempt to purchase mining claims and try to avoid companies requesting inflated prices for their claims once they realise that a company is interested in purchasing claims.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n
Greener pastures?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nBut, for all Moti\u2019s political clout in Zimbabwe, all was not well and Moti\u2019s business strategy in the country required him to navigate difficult factional terrain. His prison correspondence foreshadowed growing problems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In October 2018, a letter from one of Moti\u2019s employees stated: \u201cZim is not the same as you knew it. It will either settle or get worse. Relationships are changing and alliances are altering. Kuda under pressure\u2026 CDF [Chiwenga] is key to an extent but he is only back at work tomorrow for cabinet and back home. He is really ill. One and two not best of mates it seems too\u2026 noises.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In January 2019, Moti was released from prison, but before the year was out the Moti Group would temporarily halt operations and lay off workers at ACF amid a slump in the chrome price. Moti told media at the time that the \u201ceconomic meltdown\u201d in Zimbabwe made matters worse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Perhaps emboldened by his efforts to cosy up to power in Zimbabwe, or because business in Zimbabwe was not working out so well, Moti turned his attention to neighbouring Botswana where national elections were held in October 2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Internal Moti Group documents suggest that Moti had aimed to extract hugely favourable concessions from the Botswana state, grafting onto Botswana the sort of grand plans he had seemingly tried to set in motion in Zimbabwe years before.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
To do this, the documents suggest he was going to rely on the Botswana opposition as a Trojan horse, by backing Duma Boko\u2019s Umbrella for Democratic Change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Among the documents are ones purporting to show that a Moti company based in the Seychelles called Longway Solutions had entered into an agreement with Boko to fund his election campaign \u201cand has to date committed an amount of $ 9 400 000. 00\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In return, Longway expected \u201ccertain commercial opportunities with the co-operation and assistance of the Government of Botswana\u201d in the event of Boko\u2019s victory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The eye-watering details of the expected opportunities included that the Moti group would be appointed to provide mandatory travel insurance to visitors of Botswana, be made chief negotiator to engage with De Beers diamond mining company, which plays a central role in Botswana\u2019s economy, that the Moti Group would manage border control and security for the country, and undertake business activities in the beef, fuel, lithium, and fertilizer sectors.<\/p>\n\n\n\nRelatedly, Exotic Holding Limited, a Moti Group company registered in the Seychelles, was to have exclusive rights to distribute generic medication in Botswana for ten years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It is not clear whether Boko or the UDC had agreed to any of these plans, and he did not respond to the Sentry\u2019s request for comment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Moti told amaBhungane \u201cI did contribute a small amount to the UDC political party as they requested funding for their election campaign. As an investor in the SADC region, I am free to donate to a political party if I so wish, in the furtherance of the multiparty system of democracy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThere is nothing wrong with acquiring fuel, lithium, fertilizer, or anything else commercially, and as a company we are more than entitled to do so. Our proposals were to add value to Botswana and would have been to their economy\u2019s benefit.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was a bold gambit \u2013 sinking money into the opposition in the hope that should they come to power the favours would flow back to Moti \u2013 but it failed to pay off.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The UDC did not unseat the incumbent Botswana Democratic Party, which won a crushing victory taking over 50% of the vote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Boko cried foul, with Moti again playing a supporting role by funding an investigation into allegations of electoral fraud by private investigator Paul O\u2019Sullivan and a failed legal challenge. The allegations, however, came to naught. Moti\u2019s avenue to the Botswanan state was cut off, and he was never able to gain influence in that country the way he did in Zimbabwe.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A trove of leaked internal documents has laid bare the close ties between controversial South African businessman Zunaid Moti and Zimbabwe\u2019s highest-ranking politicians, bringing to light evidence of dubious multimillion dollar transactions, a sustained effort to accumulate political influence, and…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":26624,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1281,2],"tags":[1189,1190,1191,1182,399,1192,1193,1194,1195,741,1174],"class_list":["post-26622","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-motifiles","category-stories","tag-acf","tag-african-chrome-fields","tag-chidakwa","tag-corruption","tag-kickbacks","tag-mnangagwa","tag-moti","tag-moti-files","tag-tagwirei","tag-zimbabwe","tag-zunaid-moti"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/further.co.za\/amabwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26622","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/further.co.za\/amabwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/further.co.za\/amabwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/further.co.za\/amabwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/16"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/further.co.za\/amabwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26622"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/further.co.za\/amabwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26622\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":30102,"href":"https:\/\/further.co.za\/amabwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26622\/revisions\/30102"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/further.co.za\/amabwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26624"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/further.co.za\/amabwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26622"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/further.co.za\/amabwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26622"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/further.co.za\/amabwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26622"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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