Mixed reactions after prominent Zimbabwe businessman dies in helicopter crash

Flamboyant Zimbabwean businessman Wicknell Chivayo, killed in a helicopter crash on Wednesday, was one of the most recognisable faces of a class of conspicuously wealthy entrepreneurs with ties to the ruling party.

Famous for giving luxury vehicles and wads of cash to allies at highly publicised events, the 43-year-old's lavish lifestyle and extravagant handouts contrasted sharply with the economic hardship of ordinary Zimbabweans.

The tycoon and his wife Lucy Muteke were among six people killed Wednesday in a helicopter crash east of the capital Harare, his family said.

The last post on his Facebook account announced he had bought a top-of-the-range SUV for each of two advocates who supported him "from back in the days of poverty".

Sir Wicknell, as he was popularly known, said he was also giving them "small petty cash" of $250,000 each, with extra for one supporting President Emmerson Mnangagwa against a challenge to recent Constitutional amendments.

Last month, Chivayo visited a major gospel church to hand over to the hugely popular televangelist preacher — also close to the president — gifts to him and his wife of a Rolls-Royce, Mercedes-Benz G-Wagon and Maybach.

Congregants cheered as films of the event quickly spread online.

But as images of private jets, sprawling mansions and over-the-top parties have been shared, questions were being raised about how Chivayo and others in a certain Zimbabwean elite were able to access the opportunities that made their fortunes possible.