Revealed: the South African rands that 'bankrolled' Mnangagwa campaign

Zimbabwean president-elect Emmerson Mnangagwa may have contravened his  country’s laws by allegedly accepting donations from foreigners during his campaign.

The Sunday Times has reliably been informed that South African IT billionaire Robert Gumede was one of the main funders of the Zanu-PF election campaign, donating bakkies and trucks to help the party criss-cross the country.

Gumede on Friday denied having funded Zanu-PF, saying he knew about the vehicles in question, but had not paid for them.

The vehicles Gumede is alleged to have funded were branded in Zanu-PF colours and delivered to Zimbabwe in April. The trucks were used as makeshift stages at Zanu-PF rallies.

In January, Gumede was among the first business people to visit Zimbabwe following the ousting of Robert Mugabe by the military in November. He pledged he was ready to invest R15bn to help Mnangagwa’s government achieve its “short-term goals of turning around the economy”.

At the time, Gumede said  he believed the good times were back for  Zimbabwe, and that, as an investor, he couldn’t wait.

According to the Political Parties Finance Act, parties and candidates in Zimbabwe are barred from receiving donations from foreigners and face stiff penalties if they do so.

Mnangagwa’s spokesperson, George Charamba, denied that the campaign was funded by Gumede. “In our country, in terms of our own laws, foreign funding of political processes is illegal.”

Read the full story in the Sunday Times.