HARARE – The arrest of Sonja Madzikanda and her mother, Tabitha, has sent shockwaves through Zimbabwe’s social and political circles, but the real story isn’t just about a messy divorce. At the heart of this scandal is a mysterious electronic device that allegedly contains “compromising” footage of South African President Cyril Ramaphosa. This article dives into the murky waters of “tenderpreneurship” and high-level diplomatic influence. Why would a businessman like Wicknell Chivayo, known for his flamboyant lifestyle and close ties to the Zimbabwean presidency, go to such extremes to recover a single phone?
The official narrative from Ramaphosa’s office was that his meeting with Chivayo at Pricabe Farm was a first-time encounter. However, the alleged video suggests a much deeper, pre-existing relationship that predates the publicised visit. If such a video exists, it suggests that Chivayo is not just a donor, but a key diplomatic “fixer” operating in the shadows of SADC politics. We analyse the timing of the arrest β occurring just as Madzikanda returned from China β and the unusual speed with which the police acted on Chivayo’s complaint.
This article simplifies the complex web of power, showing how personal vendettas can spill over into international relations. We look at the “deepfake” allegations used by the prosecution, questioning whether this is a genuine case of cybercrime or a convenient legal shield to prevent the footage from ever seeing the light of day. By interviewing digital forensic experts and political insiders, we expose how “intimidatory diplomacy” is being used to silence those who know too much. This isn’t just a story of a broken marriage; it is a glimpse into how the elite use the state machinery to protect their secrets and maintain their “untouchable” status.
The Corporate Battleground: WMC and the South African Connection
According to political activist and former Mnangagwa ally, Rutendo Matinyarare, the genesis of these arrests lies not in a domestic dispute, but in a high-stakes corporate battle involving a South African-registered company, WMC. The company, co-owned by Sonja and Wicknell, reportedly holds significant assets in South Africa, including private jets, luxury premises, and a fleet of high-end vehicles.
The friction began when Sonja discovered she could no longer transact using the company’s bank accounts at First National Bank (FNB). Matinyarare explains that FNB had blocked the accounts because Chivayo is classified as a Politically Exposed Person (PEP) and was under investigation for various financial improprieties. To de-risk their operations, the bank advised Sonja to remove Chivayo from the company’s governance structure and re-register with a different institution.
“Sonja and Wicknell sat down and had a conversation to remove Wicknell from the company papers so that Sonja could register another bank account,” Matinyarare states. The two reportedly travelled to Pretoria to effect these changes with the Companies and Intellectual Property Commission (CIPC). However, the truce was short-lived. Matinyarare alleges that Chivayo later returned to the CIPC and surreptitiously removed Sonja from the company, re-installing himself and another shareholder without her consentβan act Matinyarare labels as blatant fraud.
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Sonia and her mother have been arrested based on claims by Wicknell Chivayo. He alleges that Sonia refuses to give him access to his⦠pic.twitter.com/WdcIGcEEMV
β Rutendo Matinyarare (@matinyarare) May 19, 2026
The Ramaphosa Video: A Tool of Intimidation
The escalation into criminal charges in Zimbabwe was triggered when Sonja filed a fraud complaint against Chivayo at the Sunnyside Police Station in Pretoria. In response to this legal challenge in South Africa, Chivayo reportedly resorted to intimidatory tactics. According to Matinyarare, Chivayo contacted Sonja’s mother, Tabitha, and sent her videos and photographs of himself in the company of President Cyril Ramaphosa.
The intent, Matinyarare claims, was to demonstrate Chivayo’s immense political reach. “He sent the video that he’s sitting with the president to try and show Sonja’s mother that he’s powerful enough to stop anything from happening to him in South Africa, even if criminal,” Matinyarare explains. This footage, which allegedly shows a pre-existing and intimate relationship between the businessman and the South African leader, became the catalyst for the subsequent arrests.
When the family discussed these threats and the footage was shared within their circle, Chivayo pounced. He accused Sonja of stealing his electronic device to obtain the footage and accused Tabitha of violating cyber laws by leaking the material on social media. Matinyarare dismisses these charges as “trumped-up” and nonsensical, noting that Sonja had been out of the country in China and Dubai for two weeks prior to her arrest and had no physical access to Chivayo’s devices.
Abuse of Power and State Machinery
The arrest of Sonja and Tabitha Madzikanda is, in Matinyarare’s view, a clear case of the abuse of state machinery to settle personal and corporate vendettas. He argues that the Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) are being “corrupted to undertake vendettas and to fight little battles” for the politically connected elite.
The charges against Sonja β denying Chivayo access to his children β are particularly ironic, given that Chivayo had reportedly been in possession of the children for the two weeks Sonja was abroad. “He’s the one who has the children for the past two weeks when Sonja was in China and in Dubai,” Matinyarare points out, highlighting the logical inconsistencies in the prosecution’s case.
The use of the Cyber and Data Protection Act to target Tabitha Madzikanda further illustrates this pattern. By framing the sharing of a video β sent to her by Chivayo himself β as a cybercrime, the state is effectively weaponising legislation designed for digital safety to protect the privacy of a powerful individual. This “intimidatory diplomacy” serves a dual purpose: it silences the immediate threat to Chivayo’s reputation and sends a chilling message to anyone else who might challenge his “untouchable” status.
The Diplomatic Fallout
The implications of this scandal extend far beyond the borders of Zimbabwe. The existence of a video showing a deeper relationship between Chivayo and Ramaphosa directly contradicts the official statements from the South African presidency. It raises uncomfortable questions about the nature of the “tenderpreneur’s” influence within the SADC region and whether his proximity to power has allowed him to bypass legal scrutiny in multiple jurisdictions.
In South Africa, opposition figures like Mmusi Maimane have already begun to seize on these developments, questioning Ramaphosa’s links to what they describe as a “corrupt Zimbabwean government and its crony capitalists.” The scandal threatens to become a significant diplomatic headache for Ramaphosa, especially as investigations into financial improprieties involving over R1.1 billion continue to loom.
Conclusion: A Glimpse into the Elite’s Playbook
The saga of Sonja Madzikanda and her mother is a sobering reminder of how the elite use the state as their personal security firm. It is a story of corporate fraud, diplomatic shadows, and the ruthless silencing of those who dare to hold power to account.
As Rutendo Matinyarare concludes, the arrests are “illustrative of the corruption and the human rights abuses that are synonymous with this government and its people.” Whether the Zimbabwean justice system can provide a fair hearing in the face of such overwhelming political pressure remains to be seen. For now, the “price of a phone” continues to rise, exposing the fragile and often dark intersections of personal life and international power.