Online Reporter
Online Reporter
Zimbabwean business tycoon Mr Mutumwa Mawere, who died on January 15 aged 66, was buried on Monday morning at Fourways Memorial Park in Johannesburg, South Africa.
Videos shared on social media captured the burial of the businessman, who had relocated to South Africa and lived in there for nearly two decades holding dual South African and Zimbabwean citizenship.
The burial proceeded after the courts settled a dispute between his partner and family who wanted to bury him at his rural home in Gutu. The South African High Court ruled in favour of Mr Mawere’s partner, paving the way for his burial in Johannesburg.
The businessman died at Mediclinic Sandton Hospital in Bryanston, Johannesburg, following complications related to an acute neuorological condition and a stroke suffered in 2024.
Mr Mawere was one of Zimbabwe’s successful businessmen from the mid-1990s to the early 2000 and at one time built an expansive business empire that straddled key sectors of Zimbabwe’s economy.
The businessman is recognised as a pioneer of black economic empowerment in post-independence Zimbabwe from the time he ventured into the realm of entrepreneurship.
He bought key assets during the country’s privatisation era, notably the Shabanie Mashaba Mines (SMM) conglomerate, and diversified his holdings into an empire spanning mining, finance, manufacturing, agriculture and telecommunications.
At the peak of his business success, Mr Mawere had built an empire that touched nearly every corner of the Zimbabwean economy, managing an extensive investment network primarily through his wholly-owned holding company, Africa Resources Limited (ARL), alongside investment vehicles such as Ukubambana-Kubatana Investments (UKI) and Endurite Properties.
The cornerstone of the industrial giant was the acquisition of asbestos mining assets, which provided the essential liquidity to fuel its aggressive expansion into a multitude of other sectors.
At the heart of his industrial operations was Shabanie Mashaba Mines (SMM) Holdings, the parent company for Shabanie Mine in Zvishavane and Gaths Mine in Mashava, which was the sole producer of chrysotile asbestos in Zimbabwe and a dominant force on the global market.
