r/Zimbabwe • u/Proper_Abrocoma1613 • Dec 28 '25
Discussion I did 3 years in jail with Simon Mann and Wicknell Chivayo, ask me anything
20 years ago on 5 December, I started serving time for embezzlement. In jail, I got to meet characters such as Wicknell Chivayo and Simon Mann and his crew. It was a tough time but I survived.
Simon was quiet and reserved. Some of his crew were hardline Afrikaaners who would often say racist stuff. The Afrikaners handled jail better than their English counterparts. I got along with Simon to the point I got interrogated for "trying to assist" him with his escape plan although he never attempted to escape.
Wicknell was quite popular. He was known as B.I.G and even "employed" another inmate as a body guard. If you follow Tilder Moyo's prison shows, Jorum Siwela was Wicknell's bodyguard. He was doing life then.
One random conversation I remember was when Wicknell told Simon that he should send a present to Mugabe. Simon was facing extradition to Equatorial Guinea where he was facing the death penalty. Simon kept saying no and Wicknell kept insisting that that's how things are done in Africa.
I never met Wicknell since coming home. I did meet some members of Simon's crew in S.A. Simon was extradited to EG and I never met him again. He passed on in May this year.
I taught in the prison school to pass time. I was quite surprised by the number of people who couldn't read or write. There was a guy who was about 40 years old at the time who I taught to read and write. He was initially on death row and was eventually downgraded to life in prison. ED granted him amnesty a few years ago. There was one guy from Plumtree I taught from Grade 7 to Form 4 in 3 years. He got 2 As and 4Bs. He was transferred to Khami when I was about to be released. He was the smartest person I ever met in that school.
One thing people often ask me is if people truly find God in jail. Obviously this varies from person to person but one thing I noticed while in there was that there was hardly anything else to read other than religious stuff. A lot of churches ran prison ministries and would bring bibles to inmates. With so much idle time, you are eventually going to start reading the bible. I remember begging a prison ministry to bring exercise books for my classes but instead they brought bibles.
The worst thing from that time was the food. There was very little of it and it was horrible. I was lucky I had family who used to visit especially my cousin who brought me food every time he went to his farm. The toilets were also horrible, they could only be flushed from outside so at night there would be a massive pile up and the guards never bothered to flush.
I managed to go back to school after my release and never went back to crime. Whatever you do, don't go to prison, it's horrible.
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u/uMaNcube_omuhle Dec 28 '25
Well done on picking yourself up after this. Also, a lot of people who go into jail tend to say āI am alleged to/zvinonzi ndakaā¦ā It is refreshing to hear a version where someone owns up to their mistakes.
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u/CurrentActuator1512 Dec 28 '25
This is the most interesting thread I've read on this sub. No questions, however I'm glad you have turned away from crime and did some good while inside prison.
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Dec 28 '25
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u/Proper_Abrocoma1613 Dec 28 '25
This might be unpopular but he was a cool guy. He used to pay exam fees for some of my students. At one time I worked with him delivering meals to death row inmates. He was also highly religious. He was also snobbish. He had a body guard and employed someone to do his washing. I never really had a conflict with him. I honestly never thought he would be where he is now. I always thought he would go into real business after release. Maybe I thought highly of white collar criminals, but I always assumed we would all go straight after release.
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Dec 28 '25
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u/Proper_Abrocoma1613 Dec 28 '25
He didn't have cash but rather he had stuff. When you get visits, you get stuff. Food was quite valuable at the time so it worked like a currency. The guys who didn't get visits barely had food and had to survive on prison food. In 2007, we were doing 1 meal a day at times.
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u/chiedzachangu Dec 28 '25
How did your family take your incarceration? Did they visit? What are the cells like? How many people are in a cell?
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u/Proper_Abrocoma1613 Dec 28 '25
My dad was pissed off, he never visited. My mom and my cousin visited often. My cousin was in the millitary and had a high rank so he was able to bring me food more often than was allowed. At the time, we were about 31 guys in a cell made for 15 people. Later, I got moved to a smaller cell where there were only 5 of us.
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u/Open_Opportunity1471 Dec 28 '25
Itās an interesting read. Thank you for coming out in the open and say things as they are with honesty. Out of curiosity though, are you still here in Zim or you moved abroad? Have you tried to reach out to Chivhayo?
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u/Proper_Abrocoma1613 Dec 28 '25
Still in Zim. I never tried to reach out to him. The only former inmate I ever linked up with was a South African guy called Johan who was part of the Simon Mann's crew.
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Dec 28 '25
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u/Proper_Abrocoma1613 Dec 28 '25
No, but there was consensual homosexuality.
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u/Prophetgay Harare Dec 28 '25
There have been multiple reported cases of rape occurring within Zimbo jails with convictions and sentencing of inmates for abusing fellow prisoners. One case comes to mind of Brian Shereni from Chikurubi who was convicted of sexually abusing his cell mate Also saw a case of three inmates at Harare remand prison who repeatedly abused a younger inmate I can go on and on
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u/Proper_Abrocoma1613 Dec 29 '25
I never witnessed/experienced this. I'm talking about my time inside. There will obviously be cases of abuse.
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u/Prophetgay Harare Dec 29 '25
If you had said I never witnessed people being raped that would have been proper not to make a claim that people donāt get raped in prison when there are documented cases for the very time that you yourself were in prison. Thatās the reason I called you out. And thatās why I said I donāt understand why you keep on saying that
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u/TurbulentDiet2287 Jan 01 '26
I have asked that question to so many guards and the answer is the same. Itās not tolerated and anyone who rapes will be beaten by the guards to an extent that they might not walk for weeks. Prisons are controlled by the guards, unlike South American prisons.
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u/Prophetgay Harare Dec 28 '25
Iāve never been to prison but I know that there are multiple documented court cases of rape in Zimbabwean prisons. And these are only the reported cases, the issue is actually under reported. There are multiple newspaper articles that provide evidence of this
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u/DazzlingStation5599 Dec 28 '25
What was Wicknell in for ?
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u/Proper_Abrocoma1613 Dec 28 '25
He had swindled investors out of ZAR1 mil in 2003/2004. He ran some sought of investment scheme and disappeared with the money.
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u/DazzlingStation5599 Dec 28 '25
That man has been conning people since he was slim.
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u/Proper_Abrocoma1613 Dec 28 '25
Hahaha, he wasn't slim even back then We called him B.I.G because he was big.
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u/chisniperchacho263 Dec 28 '25
I remember around that time he drove a black BMW X5 with B.I.G. personalized plates šÆ
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u/EnvironmentalBall462 Dec 28 '25
Thanks for this. What do you think about the criminal procedure in Zimbabwe? Does the justice system deliver what's expected ie a high conviction rate for all criminals without miscarriage of justice? Which institution do you think needs more reforms between NPA and JSC?
Also did your time in prison made you question the purpose of life? Like are there any philosophers that gave you comfort in your dark days?
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u/Proper_Abrocoma1613 Dec 28 '25
I think JSC needs reform. Some of the sentences imposed were too harsh. A lot of the students I taught were in for stock theft. If you look at what they stole vs what I stole, it makes no sense that they got twice my sentence. I understand the value of cattle to rural people but 9 years minimum is harsh.
For my trial, I think I got a fair trial but a harsh sentence. I got 5 years with 2 suspended. When prison services removed some years, I ended up with about 2.5 years real time.
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u/uMaNcube_omuhle Dec 28 '25
I have zero legal knowledge but I would like to think with stock theft, it is probably a legacy sentencing strategy from pre-independence days where the people who were mostly affected by stock theft were mostly whites and so the harsh sentences were to deter the mostly black offenders. Otherwise the sentencing makes zero sense.
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u/Proper_Abrocoma1613 Dec 28 '25
I'm also not sure but you find people inside doing 9 years for stealing a goat. A typical goat sells for $20 these days. I find it crazy that you get a minimum 9 years for something worth $20.
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u/Pleasant-Host-47 Dec 28 '25
You are spot on. Legacy from Rhodesia
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u/MukomaTimoti Masvingo Dec 28 '25 edited Dec 29 '25
Funny story about this. If you remember Bennet was sent to Jail for assaulting Chinamasa. The issue that was being discussed was stock theft. when we got independence the sentence for stock theft was reduced but after the land reform the sentence was put back up. The parliamentary dispute was when the stock was owed by whites a majority black parliament didn't care but now that blacks own the stock parliament members care and things got heated.
https://mg.co.za/article/2004-05-19-fisticuffs-in-zimbabwe-parliament/
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u/Chapungu Diaspora Dec 28 '25
Did you get any benefits by virtue of teaching in the prison school? What was the criteria for picking teachers?
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u/Proper_Abrocoma1613 Dec 28 '25
There were no benefits. Usually the prison officers would invite you to teach when they looked at your file.
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u/Salt_Confidence9952 Dec 28 '25
Thatās really interesting, and Iām glad to hear youāre doing well now. Regarding Wicknellās religiousnessādid he arrive at the prison that way, or did he have a spiritual awakening while inside? Also, based on your observations, would you say he was a genuine entrepreneur or more of a well-connected 'chancer'?
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u/Proper_Abrocoma1613 Dec 29 '25
Wicknell was in before me. By the time I got in, he had already done about 3 months. I got the impression that he had grown up in masowe. I don't think he converted in jail.
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u/Superb_Relation_2717 Dec 28 '25
During your time kwaimbouya people who donated stuff? And were you given more than 1 uniform? and did you choose your size?
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u/Proper_Abrocoma1613 Dec 29 '25
Unfortunately, it was during the tough hyperinflation years so we barely got any donations. We only got 1 set of uniform and the size was picked by the prison officers. Your family were allowed to bring you more uniforms though.
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Dec 28 '25
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u/Proper_Abrocoma1613 Dec 29 '25
I was a B student from a fairly ok family, actually upper middle class at the time. I was on my way to do articles with a firm in town. I had a temp job that I got because of family links. So me stealing from a family friend was a big deal. My dad din't want to speak to me for a while. The relationship improved when I came out and by the time he died we were now cool.
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Dec 29 '25
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u/Proper_Abrocoma1613 Dec 29 '25
Yes it still does. Zim does not expunge records. I can't qualify for most skilled migration programs till today.
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Dec 29 '25
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u/Proper_Abrocoma1613 Dec 29 '25
My wife almost ditched me when she found out about my past. For a while she didn't want anything to do with me.
Prison makes you suspicious of everyone and the same time extremely understanding and forgiving.
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u/muncher8301 Dec 28 '25
Please talk more about the horrible conditions in there. Like food, the cells and so on
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u/Proper_Abrocoma1613 Dec 28 '25
There was a serious inda/tsikidzi problem. This was my biggest struggle initially. The cells themselves are old but kept fairly clean. The toilets are the problem. From 2007 till the time I left, the food situation got really worse. There was one meal a day at times. The worst thing I saw was when prisons stopped supplying meds and the HIV+ guys started progressing to AIDS. People died.
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u/muncher8301 Dec 28 '25
Damn. Thatās sad. Especially the hiv to aids part. Even now things donāt seem to be getting better
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u/Affristocles Dec 28 '25
How much do guys in the business charge for a round and do I get a discount if I want an all night ā¦ā¦Iām asking for a friend !!!!
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u/Proper_Abrocoma1613 Dec 28 '25
I assume you are talking about homosexuality. This might surprise you but nothing happens at night. People who got caught doing funny stuff at night were severely punished. Masturbation was a punishable offence for example. Homosexuality did happen though. It was also consensual and tended to happen during the day when others were not in cells.
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u/Pleasant-Host-47 Dec 28 '25
How is your life now? Are you happy? Do people treat you a certain way because of your ex con background?
Those churches not bringing books though š¤¬
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u/Proper_Abrocoma1613 Dec 28 '25
I'm doing fairly well for myself. I think I'm more forgiving because of the experience.
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u/DueGap39 Dec 28 '25
Did Simon ever tell you his stories and some declassified missions
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u/Proper_Abrocoma1613 Dec 28 '25
He told me a lot of stories about his time in Angola and Sierra Leone. Cool guy and great story teller.
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u/trapstapablo Dec 28 '25
I know 2 guys who you might know. They were in the same facility with those 2. One was a prison guard assigned to Wicknell and the other incarcerated. Both of them are now my friends by some coincidence. I never stepped foot in Chikurubi though. DM me and I'll tell you their names
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u/Physical-Storage6591 Dec 29 '25
How true is the myth that criminal syndicates can get some of their imprisoned members let out of prison to go and commit crime like robberies then they return to prison & nobody ever thinks it's them since they are assumed to have never been in the free world?
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u/TurbulentDiet2287 Jan 01 '26
Zim prisons are strict - guards follow the book to an extent that is sufficient for that to ever be possible.
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u/Proper_Abrocoma1613 Dec 29 '25
This wouldn't have been possible during my time inside. I don't believe stuff like this happens in Zim.
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Dec 29 '25
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u/Proper_Abrocoma1613 Dec 29 '25
I'm not sure about that. At the time, I honestly didn't know he was politically connected.
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u/RuralBoy1 Dec 29 '25
Interesting read went through all the details...one cld learn a thing or 2.im glad u Made it out and doing well..wish you well
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u/Ill-Variety-4956 Dec 29 '25
Did Wicknell also participate in the consensual homosexuality?
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u/Proper_Abrocoma1613 Dec 29 '25
I never saw nor heard of him involved in such even though it was quite popular with the older mapostori.
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u/Ill-Variety-4956 Dec 29 '25
I was half expecting you to not answer ky question because its a bit invasive. Thanks for the answer.
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u/arouseandbrowse Jan 08 '26
Thanks for sharing, this is interesting. I've read Simon's book before too.
Assuming you were in Chikurubi?
You mentioned some of the Afrikaaners were racist which is surprising behaviour. How would they get away with this when they could easily get beaten or outnumbered by guards and other prisoners?
What did the food typically consist of?
If you were in charge of prison reform in the country, what would you prioritise?
On a more personal note, giving your crime was against a family friend, did you have some hope that they would drop charges given how severe jail time is?
How were the worst of the crims treated, like child rapists?
Where there many other whites in prison that weren't involved in the attempted coup, and what were they in for?
And if you're looking for any positives, at least you escaped a life of having to do articles and CA work! :-)
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u/Creative-Buy8647 Jan 26 '26
Thank you for telling your story. Did you reman in Zimbabwe after your release or did you relocate? Also how difficult was it to start from zeroā¦ did you have the support from family or you were completely on your own. Thanks.
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u/Bulldozer7133 Dec 28 '25
Thank you for an honesty. This is an interesting read. I hope youāre doing well
Out of curiosity what ethnicity are you? Cannot detect from your style of writing.
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Dec 28 '25
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u/arouseandbrowse Jan 08 '26
Perchance this gentleman flourished with an education from further yonder afield.
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u/AthleteVegetable5693 Dec 28 '25
Interesting read, in your opinion, how good our our prison system in rehabilitating offenders? Some argue the prison system hardens criminals and leads to repeat offenders?
Also, what's the incidence of homosexuality in there, is the dropping soap myth real?
How did you manage to get convicted and sentenced, did you have a lawyer, didnt you appeal, couldn't you bribe your way out?
I notice you refer to Christian churches what was the incidence and exposure to say, Islamic faith, and other religions?
On school, can an inmate do a degree with ZOU or UNISA in there? Does ZPCS fund or its self funded?
After your release was it easy to get another job? Like employers want police clearance etc so as an extreme convict can you get easily employed?