When Wicknell Chivayo's relationship with his first wife broke down in early 2024, their private dispute quickly became a multimillion-dollar battle in court.
At the centre was 34-year-old Sonja Louise Madzikanda, mother of his two children, who announced their separation and brought forward explosive claims over multimillion-dollar assets, luxury vehicles and child access disputes.
Court papers filed at the High Court show that Madzikanda demanded $25m (Sh3.2bn) lump-sum settlement, $40,000 (Sh5.1m) monthly spousal maintenance and an additional $1m (Sh130m) per year for holidays and entertainment. She also sought full custody of the couple’s two minor children, with limited access for Chivayo
Prominent Zimbabwean businessman Wicknell Chivayo and his wife, Lucy Muteke, died in a helicopter crash on Wednesday evening, September 30, 2026.
Photo credit: Pool
The businessman subsequently filed an urgent application seeking access to his two minor children, alleging that Madzikanda had “systematically and routinely denied access” to them, despite what he described as repeated efforts to resolve the impasse amicably.
The couple were married under customary law in July 2017 and have two children under the age of 10. Madzikanda, in her declaration, argued that the marriage had “broken down irretrievably”, citing allegations of adultery, emotional abuse and abandonment. What followed was one of Zimbabwe’s most extraordinary financial settlements.
In April this year, the High Court in Zimbabwe approved a consent arrangement under which Chivayo agreed to pay $5 million (Sh649m) towards the maintenance and investment of funds for the couple’s children.
Of that amount, $2.2 million (Sh285m) had already been paid, while the remaining $2.8 million (Sh363m) was to be settled within 30 days. The court order provided for the money to be placed in a bank account controlled by Madzikanda, with Chivayo retaining oversight. The investment was intended to generate returns that could eventually cover the children’s living expenses.
For the first 12 months, Chivayo was also required to cater for the children’s living expenses, which gave Madzikanda time to build the portfolio. Thereafter, those costs would be funded purely from returns generated by the investment.
But despite this settlement, the wider fight over Chivayo’s wealth did not end.
Months before the $5 million (Sh649m) settlement was eventually approved, Madzikanda had filed a much larger claim. Her court papers sought a $25 million (Sh3.2bn) lump sum, alongside $40,000 (Sh5.1m) in monthly spousal maintenance. This monthly payout was to continue until Madzikanda remarried.
Prominent Zimbabwean businessman Wicknell Chivayo and his wife, Lucy Muteke, died in a helicopter crash on Wednesday evening, September 30, 2026.
Photo credit: Pool
She also sought properties in Zimbabwe and South Africa; several luxury vehicles and interests connected to businesses and other assets associated with Chivayo.
Among the vehicles listed in her claim were a Rolls-Royce Spectre, two Rolls-Royce Ghosts, a Rolls-Royce Phantom, a Range Rover, a Mercedes-Benz V-Class and a Mercedes-Benz Maybach. Her claim also referred to a private jet and businesses associated with Chivayo, including Intratek, WMC Trading, IMC Communications, Trintas Petroleum and Eldo.
The properties she sought included land in Gletwyn, a unit at Rikitayi Villas in Ballantyne Park, Harare, and an apartment at DaVinci Suites in Sandton, Johannesburg.
She also sought comprehensive provision for the children’s education, medical care and general upkeep, as well as an annual $1 million (Sh130m) budget for holidays and entertainment.
But these were just claims. What she actually got was the US$5 million (Sh649m) maintenance and investment package. The court also allowed her to keep the children, while Chivayo was granted access to the children for one uninterrupted week each month, weekends and alternate public holidays.
During his designated week, Chivayo was required to be personally available and present. Delegating his parental responsibilities to third parties was strictly prohibited.
The matter was still being litigated in court by the time Chivayo and his second wife died in a helicopter crash on Wednesday night, leaving many other claims to Chivayo’s properties, companies and assets unresolved.
But beyond the financial fight, there was another sticky question: What was the legal status of the relationship itself?
Officials work at the site of a helicopter crash at Kudenga Farm in the Marondera rural area, east of Harare, Zimbabwe, on October 1, 2026. Prominent Zimbabwean businessman Wicknell Chivayo and his wife, Lucy Muteke, died in a helicopter crash on Wednesday evening, September 30, 2026.
Photo credit: Reuters
Madzikanda said she and Chivayo entered into a customary law union in July 2017, supported by the payment of lobola (bride price), meaning she was entitled to seek an equitable share of assets accumulated during the marriage.
But Chivayo's legal team argued that the customary union had not been formally registered, and that Madzikanda was therefore not entitled to the spousal maintenance and property claims she was pursuing.
His lawyers also argued that Madzikanda had effectively ended the relationship when she gave him gupuro in February 2024. In Shona customary law, gupuro is a symbolic item or small amount of money given by a man to his wife in front of witnesses or family members to signal the official ending of a marriage.
Madzikanda's lawyers maintained that the relationship could not simply be dissolved through such an act and that a court was required to determine the matter.
The case dragged on, and in June 2026, Chivayo attempted to have Madzikanda's wider property and asset claims struck out, but the High Court dismissed that application with costs.
Justice Fatima Maxwell held that Chivayo himself had already consented to paying his ex-wife the Sh649m mentioned in the initial settlement, and that the consent order that he and Madzikanda had both signed meant that the termination of their union would be determined in the main divorce case.
This ruling allowed the broader dispute to continue, although a subsequent hearing date had not been set.
Since Chivayo's death on Wednesday, Madzikanda has not made a verified public statement about his death.
Long before her multimillion-dollar divorce battle with Chivayo, Madzikanda was a Harare-based accountant who had worked at Ernst & Young and pursued business ventures of her own. It is not clear how the two met.
