CAPE TOWN, South Africa – Zimbabwean businessman Wicknell Chivayo has acquired and furnished a mansion in Clifton, one of Cape Town’s most exclusive oceanfront suburbs, for a reported R160 million (about $10 million), joining a roster of wealthy and celebrity residents that includes South African DJ Black Coffee.
Chivayo announced the acquisition on social media on Tuesday, saying he and his family had moved into the property after extensive interior work.
“We were welcomed to our new home in Clifton, Cape Town, last weekend. A cool R160 million in total well spent including everything done and delivered with utmost class and attention to detail,” he wrote, thanking interior designer Stephen Pelerade and his team at Pelerade Design House.
The four-bedroom, five-and-a-half bathroom home was designed by SAOTA, the Cape Town architectural firm known for high-end residential work, and was marketed as bordering the Table Mountain Nature Reserve with panoramic views across Table Bay and Robben Island.
Promotional material for the property described it as a “masterpiece of design and craftsmanship,” featuring solid French Oak wide-plank flooring, a front door crafted from Murba wood, a Eurocasa kitchen with a separate scullery, a Kone lift serving all four floors, and a lower-level gym, games area and space designed for a home theatre. The master suite was advertised as a private retreat with a dressing room, an en-suite bathroom set within an indigenous garden and its own private deck.
The purchase makes Chivayo a neighbour of Black Coffee, the internationally acclaimed South African DJ and producer who acquired a nearby Clifton property, as well as mining and logistics businessman Solly Madibela. Clifton is consistently ranked among South Africa’s most expensive residential addresses.
The Cape Town purchase follows Chivayo’s acquisition of a mansion on a 17-hectare property in Harare’s Chishawasha Hills, reported to have cost around R129 million and which includes a tennis court and a helipad.
Chivayo, the founder of Intratrek Zimbabwe, has built a fortune through state contracts in Zimbabwe’s energy and infrastructure sectors worth close to US$1 billion, and is a prominent financier of the ruling Zanu PF party and an ally of President Emmerson Mnangagwa. He has faced sustained scrutiny over the award of those contracts, allegations he denies.
The Clifton acquisition adds to a string of high-value disclosures by Chivayo in recent months, including the acquisition of a $34 million Gulfstream G550 private jet. Last week, he was granted Eswatini citizenship by King Mswati III after pledging to build a 300MW solar power plant for a reported $182 million.
Source: ZimLive
