Hain called out over Zimbabwe business links

British peer, Lord Peter Hain, made headlines in SA when he campaigned against state capture. But, says a Mail & Guardian report, Hain does not appear to be applying the same high standards to his own commercial dealings in Zimbabwe, as an examination of his business partners reveals. The peer himself admits that he is now working directly with senior officials ‘complicit’ in former President Robert Mugabe’s dictatorial regime, according to the report. It says these business partners include Zimbabwe’s new President, Emmerson Mnangagwa, as well as former army chief-turned-Deputy President Constantino Chiwenga, who led the coup that toppled Robert Mugabe last year. Both men are the subject of targeted sanctions by the US, imposed in the early 2000s. The report notes Hain’s Zimbabwean connections run through a controversial and flamboyant South African businessperson, Zunaid Moti. The report says Moti and now Hain are also indirectly in business with the Zimbabwean Defence Force, which has a long and well-documented history of human rights abuses and corruption, and Sakunda Holdings, a fuel distribution company embroiled in corruption scandals and with close links to the ruling party. Hain did not respond to the specific questions posed to him by the M&G and amaBhungane, but said his new business partners have turned over a new leaf, the report states.

Full Mail & Guardian report