Quick Summary

What I hear is that there is a great deal of criminal activity going on at ruling-party as opposed to governmental level between Zambia (MMD) Zimbabwe (ZANU PF) and SA (ANC). In the main this involves the laundering of Zim gold and diamonds through the two neighbouring countries. The Marange diamond fields are producing previously unimagined quantities of quality and industrial stones virtually all of which is being pocketed by the military before being laundered through SA and Zambia. This sage began when De Beers who had a prospecting claim on the area appeared to take their eye off the ball and Andrew Cranswick slipped into the breach. However when word leaked out of richness of the claim the bayonets arrived, Cranswick was shoved aside and the mine is controlled by the general with Mujuru at the top. Certain ruling party Mugabe-cronies get a piece of the action but not all I’m told. Impoverished locals infiltrate the area at night and grab what they can (I believe the stones are often found on the surface) but they do this on pain of death. If found they are shot on the spot. The so- called Kimberley Process has sent a team to investigate but I have not heard of any reaction. This is a classic case of another failure by the world community to control the flow of blood-diamonds and it continues at pace. Recently a ‘mule’ on the move for MacMillan (for MacMillan read Mnangagwa and Mugabe) was nabbed at Lusaka International after arriving with some 40 kgs of gold in his carry-on luggage. Just what went wrong here is unclear but it seems his arrest was the result of an untimely change of the customs shift but who knows some form of treachery may have been afoot? The accused, a young white fellow was in the slammer for a few months but is on bail and bets are he will soon be allowed to fade into the background in time and allow business as usual to continue. To nail him under Zambian law I’m told the Attorney General had to prove the gold was Zambian which was stated in the charge- sheet but this was patently untrue and I suspect all have tumbled to the fact that the accused cannot be allowed to appear in court where he will doubtless explain the bigger scam. I am told a bank account in Zambia actually operates in RGM’s name and revenue from this flow of illicit material goes straight into it. Another big money-spinner, certainly between Zim and SA is cigarettes and here Selebi is probably the king-pin. Mr. Rudland (forget Christian-name) was and probably still is a big player. He was nabbed recently, released on the highest bond in SA judicial history and is now forgotten about. His testimony were he to be tried almost certainly too damning of too many people in high places. A name in the ANC hierarchy repeatedly heard is that of Motlanthe. What can be deduced from this is that the ANC and ZANU PF are part of a long running criminal conspiracy and too many people on both sides of the Limpopo stand to lose from ZANU PF’s loss of power. Another possible reason for Mbeki’s refusal to buckle and condemn Mugabe may be due to the fact that he did some snitch work for someone in SA Intelligence during the 80’s. At this time the ANC was bereft of funds and politically in the doldrums. I have it on excellent authority from someone who was and remains very close to Mrs. Mbeki that Thabo at the time was doing little more than drinking and whoring. Mrs. M who was then with the UN I think was at her wits end. Being the sole bread-winner she was tired of having to deal with venereal infections while paying for her itinerant husband’s carousing. It was at this time Noel Robey, then tasked with looking into killing certain ANC people in Zambia, was told to cancel out TM because he’s ‘helping us’. Not long thereafter TM was summoned to Harare and detained overnight. Could this be where he was forced to confess and is this a gun RGM holds at his head today?

In Zambia the hunting industry is firmly under the control of a group only half-jokingly known in Zambia as ‘The Taliban’. The three main players are Rashid Randera, Yusuf Patel, and a fellow by the name of Zumla. All are fervent Muslims but Rashid is the most powerful and radical. He is very firmly connected to the First Lady Mrs. Maureen Mwananwasa and there are strong rumours that Rashid and she are having an affair. Levy, her husband and president, is said to be incontinent unwell and subject to massive mood swings and loss of memory. Maureen is said to be extremely avaricious and thoroughly corrupt. Rashid Randera is a particularly nasty individual who suffers from a pathological hatred of all beings white. Unfortunately it does not end there. He seems to have ZAWA (Zambia Wildlife Authority) under his thumb and together they conspire to exploit the country’s wildlife. Returns from commercial hunting are good when you don’t have to pay the concession fees levied on the few legitimate operators in the country who get the depleted areas but there’s more. The trade in bush-meat and ivory continues and it is big business and probably also controlled by Rashid. Darrell Watt has succeeded in throwing a protective blanket over his game-ranch in western Zambia and now presides over probably the most magnificent game-ranch in Africa. Problem is he has done this by providing sanctuary to animals that were under siege in the Kafue Park and this has raised the ire of ZAWA and Rashid who are conspiring jointly to remove him and seize his estate. Disappointing to many in the hunting fraternity is the fact that the US authorities have done nothing to stop their nationals hunting with Rashid’s company and in the process, almost certainly helping him further his anti-American agenda. That said, I am told he along with Yusuf Patel’s son was not allowed entry to the US to attend the last Safari Club International convention. Also disappointing in this regard is the inaction of the FBI in prosecuting US citizens hunting Zimbabwe with companies owned by powerful figures in ZANU PF. This despite the fact they have been sent all relevant details by displaced white operators on the ground and that these activities are in direct contravention of the recently enacted US legislation

Also close to the President of Zambia and his wife is Carl Irwin who seems to be in every scam in town from arms dealing and money laundering to price fixing. He is reported to virtually run his affairs from State House. Of late the Kwacha underwent an enormous revaluation (4,800: $1US to 2,900: $1US). This caught everyone flatfooted, flattened farmers and manufacturers and is almost certainly the result of clever manipulation, probably involving Irwin but including City Bank in New York and obviously the governor of the Bank of Zambia.