The successful businessman now living in Cape Town who spent 10 years in Zimbabwean prison for killing a poacher
Rusty Labuschagne was a millionaire before becoming an international motivational speaker and best-selling author who currently lives in Cape Town.
Sharing his story in an interview with BizNews, Rusty Labuschagne described himself as a fourth-generation Zimbabwean who came from very humble beginnings.
He grew up on cattle ranches and spent most of his childhood in boarding school after losing his father at the age of 12.
However, he explained that sport became an outlet, and he went on to play rugby for Zimbabwe. Despite that success, he said he was always a bushman, drawn to life on farms and in the wilderness.
That passion led him into the safari industry, where he eventually started his own business after realising he “could make as much money as the guys I was working for.”
By the year 2000, Labuschagne said his life had reached extraordinary heights. He owned five safari concessions, a fishing resort on Lake Kariba, a large property in Bulawayo, houseboats, luxury vehicles, and even his own aeroplane.
However, that success unravelled during Zimbabwe’s land invasion period, when tensions escalated around his fishing operations.
As a licensed operator, he explained that he was responsible for anti-poaching efforts and repeatedly clashed with illegal fishing cooperatives.
That conflict would later turn into a moment that changed his life forever. Labuschagne recalled that he approached two known poachers on Lake Kariba one evening, intending only to scare them away.
When the wake of his boat caused theirs to tilt, and the men jumped into shallow water, he thought nothing more of it. “They soon scrambled to dry land and ran off into the bush,” he said.
The next day, police arrived and accused him of drowning one of the men. “To cut a long story short, I was framed by the poacher, the police, and the courts in an ugly, politically influenced conspiracy,” he said.
Rebuilding his life from scratch
Labuschagne was convicted in April 2003 and sentenced to 15 years in prison. “No one drowned. There was no body,” he said, and insisted that the evidence was either weak or favoured him.
He would ultimately spend 10 years behind bars, serving time in some of Zimbabwe’s most notorious prisons.
“The conditions were unimaginable,” he said. Labuschagne described overcrowded cells where 79 men shared a space, and each prisoner was allocated just 33 centimetres of space to sleep.
“For the first eight years, only one set of clothing was allowed,” he added, with underwear forbidden and months passing between changes.
Lice infestations, starvation, disease, and a lack of clean water were also common. “In my first six years, I watched over 2,200 men die, primarily from malnutrition and disease.”
He explained that the experience stripped him of everything he once valued. “I went from having everything I could ever wish for to losing it all in moments.”
However, he added that it was in prison that his perspective changed. “Before prison, it was all about me—my empire, money, more and more—and I had no purpose,” he said.
Through suffering, faith, and deep self-reflection, he says he found meaning. “I found a part of myself that I never knew about,” he explained.
“I thank God for my 10 years in prison because I’m a better person now than I would ever have been.”
After his release, Labuschagne rebuilt his life from scratch and eventually relocated to Cape Town, where he now lives with his wife and works as a motivational speaker.
One notable example is his visit to Hilton College, a top private school in KwaZulu-Natal, near the end of last year.
The school thanked him for his time and described his story as not just one of suffering but a powerful testimony of resilience, forgiveness, and faith.
It added that the boys were deeply moved by his story, which is an unforgettable reminder of the power of inner strength, the grace of forgiveness, and the importance of gratitude, even in life’s darkest moments.
Labuschagne noted that he lost everything, and everyone he knew was 10 years ahead after his release.
However, he added that his ordeal prepared him for what came next. “I believe it’s made me able to reach out to people to tell them that you can recover from anything life throws at you.”
Today, he said his purpose is no longer success or wealth, but helping others. “You’re looking at living proof that you can recover from whatever life throws at you.”
Rusty goes deeper into his story and what he endured in his book, Rusty Labuschagne – Beating Chains. It is available here.
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