CHINONO BLAST ZIMBABWEANS IN SOUTH AFRICA

I want to share my experiences with Zimbabwean contractors in Johannesburg.

In 2023, on 28 October, I bought my current home and paid for it on that day. I had to wait for the transfer to go through between 28 October and 8 December. The previous owner had died, so it was the daughter who was selling the house. She does not live in South Africa, and the person who was left looking after the property during that period was a maid, who happened to be Zimbabwean.

Her contract with the employer ended on 1 December, which meant that between 1 and 8 December, when the transfer was completed, there was no one at the property — but she still had the keys.

She literally brought thieves to the house. They did not break in because they had the keys. They stole everything they could — they stripped the house, even taking door handles and fittings.

They went as far as the roof and stole the solar panels. Luckily, my neighbour on the left, who was curious about the activity, took a photo of the panels being removed, while another neighbour across the road saw the maid helping the thieves on December 2.

When the transfer finally went through, I was in London. My agent from Pam Golding called to inform me that the transfer was complete. The next day, when she went to the house, she discovered that everything had been stolen. The estate of the deceased initially tried to claim that the theft occurred after the transfer, but my neighbour’s photo proved otherwise.

A top Zimbabwean lawyer in South Africa connected me with a solicitor who wrote to FNB, the executors of the estate, and they eventually agreed to compensate me for everything.

While I was still in London, I called a trusted Zimbabwean friend to help secure the property. He found a Zimbabwean-owned security company, which started guarding the property around 8 or 9 December 2023. A few days later, on the 10th or 11th, I asked a South African friend to recommend a painter because I wanted to repaint the entire house before moving in. She said her husband used one — another Zimbabwean. He came to do a quotation and noticed the large solar system on the property.

The next day, while I was flying from London to Johannesburg, I received a message from the security company saying there had been a break-in and parts of the solar system had been stolen.

This was puzzling because a guard was supposed to be on duty from 6 p.m. to 8 a.m. The keys were in the custody of the security company.

When we reviewed CCTV footage from my right-hand neighbour, we discovered that the same vehicle used by the painter in the afternoon had been used in the burglary. It became clear there was collusion between the security guard and the painter.

Fortunately, the solar system was large and complex, so they only managed to damage the BYD battery sustem and steal one inverter out of four. I dismissed the security company and hired Beagle Security, which I had originally wanted to use, though they had no one available when I first needed help.

After moving into the house, I discovered that the previous owner had no air conditioning in the main house, only in the flatlet. I hired a Zimbabwean contractor who installed the units I had bought, claiming he would supply the correct cabling, which I paid for as part of fix and supply.

The system worked initially, but his electrician later contacted me saying he had not been paid, yet I had paid the contractor the full amount. When the City Council came to issue the compliance certificate, the inspector discovered that the contractor had used substandard cabling, which could have caused electrical faults and trigger a fire. I had to replace it immediately, and the entire cabling job cost about R12,000.

Later, the toilet system in my main bathroom broke down. It was an old concealed system, so the plumber advised me to replace it. I bought a new toilet, and after installation, some wall repair and painting were required.

The plumber referred me to a painter, another Zimbabwean. I gave him access to the property, asked him to match the existing colour, and even accompanied him to Builder’s Warehouse to buy the materials he requested. When I returned after the weekend, my bathroom walls, which were beige and brown, had been painted pink. The painter had disappeared.

These were my experiences with Zimbabwean contractors in Johannesburg. I am not saying that every Zimbabwean contractor is dishonest or incompetent, but these were my personal encounters. People often ask why I no longer hire Zimbabwean contractors.

The reason is simple — I have been cheated and disappointed at every turn whenever I tried to support one of our own. I will never do it again. Now, I go straight to artificial intelligence, ask it to recommend reputable companies, and contact them directly.

Many people have asked me why these things happen, and I always go back to what Dr Solomon Guramatunhu has taught us — that the problem in Zimbabwe is not just ZANUPF, it is the mindset of the Zimbabwean citizen.

We have developed a culture of shortcuts, deceit, and dishonesty. Many want to make a quick buck without integrity or professionalism. That is how our society has become wired. You see it even within families, where a relative entrusted with building a house in Harare or Bulawayo will steal from another who is working hard in South Africa, Britain, or anywhere else in the world. It is a mindset issue.

The first step is to accept that reality and stop lying to ourselves that we are an educated society. We are not. A nation that has never achieved an O Level pass rate above 33 percent for over four decades cannot claim to be educated. We still have a long way to go, and that lack of intellectual and moral development is exactly why we are where we are today.

The tragedy is that many of the South African companies I now use — whether white-owned, Indian-owned, or black-owned — employ Zimbabweans. And interestingly, under supervision, those same Zimbabweans perform their work diligently and correctly.

But the moment they branch out and start their own companies, the crookedness begins. I am not saying every Zimbabwean-owned company is like that; I am simply sharing my personal experiences. Every time I have tried to use our own people, I have ended up disappointed.

I even forgot to mention another incident. I took my Jaguar to a reputable South African company for a respray, and when I went to collect it, I found so many faults. The panels were not properly aligned, and the work was generally poor.

I later discovered that the people who had done the actual job were Zimbabweans. I confronted the white manager and told him, “My friend, this is not how work should be done. I have paid you R40,000, and I expect a proper finish, not panels that rattle.”

He apologised and promised to correct everything. Unfortunately, before I could take the car back for the final adjustments, I hit a pothole and damaged the hydraulic suspension. I am still waiting for parts to arrive from London so that it can be fixed properly.

These are not isolated stories; they reflect a deeper societal problem. As a people, we must stop hiding our heads in the sand and start acknowledging our shortcomings.

We cannot continue to be a society that sabotages itself, where one Zimbabwean cheats another, or where dishonesty has become normalised. We must fix our mindset if we are ever to rebuild our integrity and regain trust in one another.

Zimbabwean contractors actually work well when they are working for a foreigner, but when they know that you are Zimbabwean, they undermine you. They remove the professional barrier and start treating you like a friend.

They do not turn up for work, they say, “ah, it is okay, you are my brother, we are from the same country.” It is as if being Zimbabwean gives them the right to cheat you. That mentality is wrong, and it must stop.

The only way to change this is by doing what some of us are now doing—going to reputable and established companies that have a track record of professionalism. Until you have built a reputable business that values honesty, discipline, and accountability, you will not get a penny from me.

Ngativei nehwunhu hwakanaka! Until that changes, some of us will continue using Artificial Intelligence Apps to secure reputable contractors.

The last thing I want to say to our brothers is that if you are working in someone’s house and have been given access to spaces like the kitchen or bedroom, please do not ask for things. It is unprofessional. Like, “mudhara ndepeiwo bhodoro.”

If you are working in someone’s home and you have been granted access to the ceiling or other private areas to do your job, make sure that when you are done, you clean up after yourself. Cleanliness and respect go hand in hand with professionalism.

I have instructed my housekeepers that they must ensure workers clean up after completing their tasks. If they fail to do so, the housekeeper must clean up, and that is unacceptable. Be professional in everything you do.

Do not ask for food. Come with your packed lunch because you would have been paid fairly for your work. It is distressing to pay someone and then find them asking your housekeeper for food. That is not right. Do not ask for or comment on items you see in the house. Maintain boundaries, maintain professionalism, and you will earn respect and repeat business.

The sad thing is that after sharing these experiences, many people become angry that you have spoken out about what you went through with some Zimbabwean contractors. They get upset and accuse you of betraying Zimbabweans, asking, “Why are you telling the world this?” This comes from that toxic culture of silence which says, “If a family member does something wrong, do not expose them.”

You will see it in some of the comments. They will think I am selling out simply because I am speaking the truth about the problems within our society and among our people. That is why we remain trapped in the same cycles of dishonesty and mediocrity.

We live in a society where even when a child is abused, the family protects the abuser because “you cannot report your uncle.” That mindset of covering up wrongdoing, of protecting the guilty and silencing the honest, is destroying us. It is tragic, and it must change.

This is exactly what Dr Guramatunhu means when he says our problems are not just a ZANUPF issue, but a societal one. The same way ZANUPF attacks me for speaking out against human rights abuses, the oppression of citizens, and the looting of public funds, is the same way some members of our society become angry when I expose wrongdoing within our own communities.

Now you can understand what Dr Guramatunhu means when he says the problem is rooted in our mindset. When people become angry simply because you have exposed the truth and asked that we fix what is wrong, it shows that they share the same mindset as the corrupt system they claim to hate.

It is the same corrupt thinking that drives ZANUPF’s anger when I speak out against its brutality and corruption. A corrupt mind does not want wrongdoing to be exposed. Whether in government or in ordinary society, it is the same disease of moral decay that refuses accountability and resists truth.