Serial fraudster, Dumisani Mankunzini is a controversial former provincial Zimbabwean cricketer and cricket affairs director known primarily for his involvement in multiple fraud allegations in South Africa, Botswana, and Zimbabwe. He has been accused of swindling people out of money by falsely representing himself as a high-profile sports figure or an employee of major cricket organizations like the International Cricket Council (ICC). This week, he walked out of court a free man after a nurse who had taken him to court for fraud involving $29 000 withdrew charges.
- Recruitment Fraud for Zimbabwe National Team (Currently in the news, November 2025): The current major case involves a Bulawayo nurse who lost nearly US$29,000 after Mankunzini, introducing himself as a “national development manager” for an organisation he called “Cricket Ekhaya Ekasi”, led her to believe she was being recruited to join the Zimbabwe national cricket team as part of its medical staff. He appeared in court for this matter this week.
- Hotel and Lodge Abscondment (Reported January 2023): Mankunzini was arrested for absconding payment at a local hotel in Bulawayo after staying for four days. This follows a pattern of staying in hotels/lodges and leaving without paying.
- R23,000 Swindle from a Woman (Reported September 2021): He allegedly received R23,000 from a Bulawayo woman after misrepresenting that he had already transferred funds into her South African bank account. He claimed he needed the hard cash immediately to cover medical bills for his injured son.
- “Life Savings” Swindles using Fake Documents (Reported December 2019 – February 2020): This period saw multiple victims come forward.
- Fake Job Offers & ICC Payments: He swindled several people, including a couple and a man named Leslie Nyoni, by promising them high-paying jobs in cricket. He would then request loans to cover supposed bank “inconveniences,” providing elaborate, fabricated proofs of payment from fake employers like “CricinGif” or the “ICCWC” for hundreds of thousands of Rands or US dollars that never reflected in the victims’ accounts.
- Funding Lavish Lifestyles: A South African businessman lost close to R500,000 paying for Mankunzini’s flights, hotels, fine dining, and road trips between September 2018 and February 2019, all under the false belief that he was being reimbursed by “ICC officials”.
- Cricket Umpiring & Laptop Scam (Around 2020): He defrauded a person seeking an umpiring job, telling them they needed a non-existent umpiring certificate for R1500 and money for accommodation. After the victim’s sister sent the money, Mankunzini paid for two nights’ accommodation and disappeared with the victim’s laptop.
- Botswana Cricket Tour Fraud (2015): He took 10 children to a cricket tournament in Gaborone, Botswana. He promised the guest house owner a month-long stay but left after three days without paying an R8000 bill, having already pocketed the accommodation money from the parents.
