Hopewell Chin’ono Slams Zimbabwean Contractors

Imagine if a group of ten Zimbabweans sitting outside Builders Ware House came together in Johannesburg, or those in London, or Cape Town and set up a landscaping company that gets most of its work from wealthy Zimbabweans in those cities.

I have been to the homes of many wealthy Zimbabweans in Johannesburg, Cape Town, and London, and these services are needed—but they are scared of our people’s reputation.

Let me share a story. In 2023, I bought a home in Johannesburg. It was a cash sale, so there was no mortgage company to supervise the handover, just the agent.

The home had previously belonged to a very wealthy South African who had died, and his daughter, who lives in New York, decided to sell it.

Between the time the previous owner died and the 1st of December 2023, the maid had been living on the property. It has a very modern flat at the back where she stayed.

Her contract ended on December 1st. She had asked me if I would keep her on, and I told her I didn’t need a maid at the house.

So between the 1st and the 8th, when the transfer went through, there was nobody on the property—but she still had the keys.

She came back with a group of her people and stole everything—door handles, cinema equipment (which was part of the sale), solar panels, electric curtain equipment that she couldn’t use and more.

I got a call from the agent on the 8th of December 2023 to say the transfer had gone through but the house had been burgled, and items stolen and sole damaged—including built-in gas fireplaces. They had even disconnected the lights to disable the CCTV.

I told the agent that it was not my problem. To cut a long story short, the estate of the deceased owner, through the executor at FNB, replaced everything. It cost them just over R1.5 million.

FNB initially tried to say the theft happened after the transfer, but my neighbour had taken a photo on December 2nd of the thieves removing the solar panels. That sealed the case. FNB paid for everything. As I landed in Johannesburg from London two days later, I called a friend and senior advocate in South Africa, Tererai Mafukidze.

He gave me a number of a lawyer to call, when the lawyer wrote to FNB, they folded because we were going to take them to court, in South Africa there is rule of law. So FNB replaced everything stolen.

Why did I tell you this story? The maid was a Zimbabwean from Bulawayo.

So I had to fly from London to sort out the mess because of a fellow compatriot.

While on the ground, I asked a South African friend for a good painter. She recommended a Zimbabwean who had done work for her ex-husband.

I told her I had a meeting in London and asked her to take him to do the quotation a I was leaving the next day. First, the painter gave an outrageous quote. Later that evening, he came back and stole part of the solar system—a very big and expensive one. The maid and her crew were not sophisticated enough to remove it. The painter was also a brother from Bulawayo. He vanished.

I couldn’t report the first case because the items were stolen before the property was legally mine. FNB and the estate beneficiaries chose not to involve the police and replaced everything. I paid for part of the damage to the solar system. The painter stole things he couldn’t even use.

Thirdly, the main house had no aircon, possibly because the previous owner had issues with it. The flat at the back had aircon, though. So I hired two Zimbabweans to install five aircon units in the main house. After the job, my manager called Joburg City for an electrical certificate, as is required by law.

The wiring failed. I had to spend an extra R15,000 on proper wiring to have the job redone by a registered electrical company.

The aircon guy—another brother from Masvingo—had used cheap wiring and failed to pay the electrician too.

After that baptism of fire, I decided to start paying more and using established companies for any work I needed done and stop being sentimental about wanting to give work to my compatriots. Our people let me down three times in a month.

The maid through she was stealing from me by in essence she stole from the estate of her former employer who had treated her like his own daughter making sure that she had DsTV, Netflix and WiFi connection in her flat at the back. She stole from a dead man.

It hurts me because I go to Builders Warehouse and see so many Zimbabweans I could partner with and build a great company or companies. We could tap into my goodwill and secure premium clients. But hunhu hwedu hwaka tsveyama—our behaviour is our downfall.

When I moved to England in 1994, meeting a Zimbabwean was a momentous occasion. Today, many people run the other way when they hear someone is Zimbabwean.

One day, I will write about how we deteriorated to this point. But the truth is, our behaviour makes it hard to trust our people.

I can easily gather twenty Zimbabwean millionaires in Johannesburg and convince them to give us work—but unless we fix the issues I’ve just raised, even I am no longer sure.

Zimbabwe is an economy of its own in Johannesburg.

Now I will share a different story. I once asked a Zimbabwean businessman who lives in Joburg for a plumber, and he referred me to an Indian gentleman named Shanil. He has never missed an appointment and always fixes things when need be, even when I am not around.

Recently, he installed a UV steriliser for water—he supplied everything, completed the job, and I only paid him several days later after asking him for the bill.

Since I met Shanil, he has handled all my plumbing work professionally. As I live in London, there are times I receive a call from South Africa about a water issue. No matter the time of day, Shanil responds, resolves the problem, and sends his invoice later.

Why can’t our people be that professional and honest? And to those who are—where are you?

You see, we must build businesses with a good reputation, not ones built on dishonesty or a get-rich-quick mentality.

There is plenty of money out there sitting in banks earning just 4%, when we could be investing it and earning much more—but we need to change.

You can set up painting, plumbing, landscaping, building, or electrical companies in a day, invest, and start making money.

But people with money want to work with honest individuals who can work independently, without supervision, and who are reliable and hardworking.

We have the solutions to our problems—what is needed are honest partners and professionals.

In London, you can start a car wash business and earn a lot of money. Your own people should be able to support you, especially in cities like Nottingham, Luton, Slough, and others. That is how many made their millions abroad.

Then there are lazy and bitter people like the permed one, who think we should all be poor.

Instead of wasting time on useless things and hating those who work, get off your back and build honest businesses that people can recommend.

Let us cure the ills that hold us back!!! There is a deeper cultural and moral crisis of the erosion of trust, professionalism, and personal integrity.

I shred the three stories—about the maid, the painter, and the aircon installer because these aren’t just tales of theft or bad workmanship; they represent a betrayal of brotherhood, a betrayal of potential, a betrayal of a shared struggle.

These weren’t just criminals, they were my countrymen. That is what makes it hurt so much as opposed to being played by a Somali in Johannesburg.

I sat down and cried in my car before I took my flight back to London, it hurt me so bad that with everything that I have done for my country, my fellow compatriots could do this to me. It hurt…

They did not just steal from a house—they stole the idea and hope to help others. And when hope no longer trusts its own, even those with the keys to opportunity stop unlocking the door. It is these few that tarnish many.