By Lovemore Lubinda
HARARE-(MaraviPost)-The death of controversial businessman Wicknell Chivayo in a helicopter crash has triggered a fierce public feud between two of Zimbabwe’s most prominent and outspoken church leaders, Prophet Emmanuel Makandiwa and Apostle Talent Chiwenga.
The clash exposes a long-running debate in Zimbabwe’s Pentecostal movement over wealth, prophecy and accountability.
Background: The Crash That Shocked Zimbabwe
Chivayo, 46, and his wife Lucy Muteke, 35, died on the evening of 30 September when their private Bell 430 helicopter crashed at Kudenga Farm in Marondera, about 70km east of Harare.
The aircraft, with five people on board, went down at around 17:00 CAT in misty conditions, about 40 minutes after taking off from the couple’s rural estate in Gandami, Chikomba. On board were two pilots, Captain Calvin Tafirei Soda and co-pilot Courage Mutavirwa, and Muteke’s aide Saneliswe Magagula.
Police said there were no survivors.
The wreckage caught fire, and forensic teams had to use DNA to identify the remains. The family says the bodies will be buried without their heads, which were not recovered.
Chivayo was a polarizing figure. He was known for the long-delayed US$200 million Gwanda solar project contract awarded to his company Intratrek, for close ties to President Emmerson Mnangagwa, and for extravagant philanthropy.
In the months before his death he gifted fleets of luxury vehicles, including Rolls-Royce Cullinans and Mercedes-Maybachs, to apostolic sects and to leading Pentecostal prophets.
His fortune was estimated at over US$25 million.
His funeral wake is underway at his Gletwyn mansion in Harare, with burial set for Thursday, 8 October at Glen Forest Cemetery. President Mnangagwa has granted him a provincial hero burial.
The Prophecy Question
Days after the crash, Apostle Talent Chiwenga – leader of Jesus Revelation Ministries and known for his blunt criticism of mainstream Pentecostal leaders – released a video questioning why none of Zimbabwe’s high-profile prophets had foreseen the accident.
Chiwenga, who survived a 2019 car crash that killed his wife and which he claims was an assassination attempt, argued that Chivayo was surrounded by prophets who regularly claim to predict elections, deaths and national disasters, yet none warned him not to fly.
“If a man is surrounded by great men of God who receive millions from him, where were the warnings?” Chiwenga asked in a sermon that went viral. “Where was the call that says ‘Sir Wicknell, don’t fly today, go by road’? Did the prophets fail him?”
Chiwenga went further, issuing what he called a prophetic warning around Chivayo’s funeral, saying there was “further danger surrounding people attending or returning from the funeral.” His supporters framed it as a call for spiritual vigilance; critics called it fear-mongering.
Makandiwa Hits Back
The attack drew a sharp response from Prophet Emmanuel Makandiwa, founder of the United Family International Church (UFIC), one of Zimbabwe’s largest Pentecostal churches.
Makandiwa was close to the couple. Photos posted on 25 September, just five days before the crash, showed Chivayo and Muteke hosting Makandiwa and his wife Ruth for dinner at their home.
Chivayo had recently gifted UFIC US$1 million towards its 10,000-seater cathedral project, plus a 2026 Rolls-Royce Cullinan Black Badge for Makandiwa, a Mercedes-AMG G63 for his wife, and later a Mercedes-Maybach GLS 600.
During his weekend service, Makandiwa spent the entire afternoon addressing the controversy.
He said he did not foresee the crash, and that no prophet sees everything.
“As for the question of whether I saw the accident prophetically before time or not, as some may wonder, that to me was rendered unimportant when I stated in time past my inability to see everything,” Makandiwa said in a statement posted on X on 2 October. “I reiterate that I have never seen everything, I don’t see everything, and I won’t see everything, only God does because He has no gift to see.”
Makandiwa then made a striking claim that has divided opinion: that the Chivayos themselves “knew their time to be taken.”
“The couple knew their time to be taken and desired for that time to be while they were at their best,” he said. “Their giving and helping people was to be completed on time – hence they were in a rush to give and indeed SAVED THE BEST FOR LAST.”
He was referring to Chivayo’s final social media post on the eve of the crash, in which he wrote “SAVED THE BEST FOR LAST” while concluding a long spree of donations. Makandiwa interpreted it as spiritual awareness.
Chiwenga, in a follow-up broadcast, rejected that explanation, calling it “manufacturing a retroactive prophecy out of plain text.” He said prophets cannot take money and then claim ignorance after tragedy.
The exchange has ignited national debate online, with Zimbabweans asking whether prophetic ministry should provide personal protection for its benefactors, or whether such expectations are misplaced.
The Civil Aviation Authority of Zimbabwe and the Ministry of Transport say investigations into the technical cause of the helicopter crash are ongoing, with a preliminary report expected in the coming weeks.
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