{"id":849012,"date":"2026-02-01T16:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-02-01T14:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=849012"},"modified":"2026-01-30T18:11:48","modified_gmt":"2026-01-30T16:11:48","slug":"the-successful-businessman-now-living-in-cape-town-who-spent-10-years-in-zimbabwean-prison-for-killing-a-poacher","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/lifestyle\/849012\/the-successful-businessman-now-living-in-cape-town-who-spent-10-years-in-zimbabwean-prison-for-killing-a-poacher\/","title":{"rendered":"The successful businessman now living in Cape Town who spent 10 years in Zimbabwean prison for killing a poacher"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Rusty Labuschagne was a millionaire before becoming an international motivational speaker and best-selling author who currently lives in Cape Town.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sharing his story in an interview with BizNews<\/a>, Rusty Labuschagne described himself as a fourth-generation Zimbabwean who came from very humble beginnings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He grew up on cattle ranches and spent most of his childhood in boarding school after losing his father at the age of 12. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That passion led him into the safari industry, where he eventually started his own business after realising he \u201ccould make as much money as the guys I was working for.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, that success unravelled during Zimbabwe\u2019s land invasion period, when tensions escalated around his fishing operations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a licensed operator, he explained that he was responsible for anti-poaching efforts and repeatedly clashed with illegal fishing cooperatives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When the wake of his boat caused theirs to tilt, and the men jumped into shallow water, he thought nothing more of it. \u201cThey soon scrambled to dry land and ran off into the bush,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The next day, police arrived and accused him of drowning one of the men. \u201cTo cut a long story short, I was framed by the poacher, the police, and the courts in an ugly, politically influenced conspiracy,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rebuilding his life from scratch<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Labuschagne was convicted in April 2003 and sentenced to 15 years in prison. \u201cNo one drowned. There was no body,\u201d he said, and insisted that the evidence was either weak or favoured him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He would ultimately spend 10 years behind bars, serving time in some of Zimbabwe\u2019s most notorious prisons. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe conditions were unimaginable,\u201d he said. Labuschagne described overcrowded cells where 79 men shared a space, and each prisoner was allocated just 33 centimetres of space to sleep.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFor the first eight years, only one set of clothing was allowed,\u201d he added, with underwear forbidden and months passing between changes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lice infestations, starvation, disease, and a lack of clean water were also common. \u201cIn my first six years, I watched over 2,200 men die, primarily from malnutrition and disease.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He explained that the experience stripped him of everything he once valued. \u201cI went from having everything I could ever wish for to losing it all in moments.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, he added that it was in prison that his perspective changed. \u201cBefore prison, it was all about me\u2014my empire, money, more and more\u2014and I had no purpose,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Through suffering, faith, and deep self-reflection, he says he found meaning. \u201cI found a part of myself that I never knew about,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI thank God for my 10 years in prison because I\u2019m a better person now than I would ever have been.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One notable example is his visit to Hilton College, a top private school in KwaZulu-Natal, near the end of last year. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u2019s darkest moments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Labuschagne noted that he lost everything, and everyone he knew was 10 years ahead after his release.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, he added that his ordeal prepared him for what came next. \u201cI believe it\u2019s made me able to reach out to people to tell them that you can recover from anything life throws at you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today, he said his purpose is no longer success or wealth, but helping others. \u201cYou\u2019re looking at living proof that you can recover from whatever life throws at you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rusty goes deeper into his story and what he endured in his book, Rusty Labuschagne \u2013 Beating Chains.\u00a0It is available here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Rusty Labuschagne was a millionaire before being wrongfully imprisoned for 10 years in Zimbabwe\u2019s harshest prisons. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":92,"featured_media":849168,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9876],"tags":[18849,24624,2279,853],"class_list":["post-849012","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lifestyle","tag-biznews","tag-breaking-chains","tag-cape-town","tag-south-africa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/849012","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/92"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=849012"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/849012\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":849176,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/849012\/revisions\/849176"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/849168"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=849012"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=849012"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=849012"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}