Following Ginimbi’s death on the 8th of November, they have been rumours, speculations, and conspiracy theories about Ginimbi’s personal life, business empire, estate, and of course how he accumulated his wealth.
Ginimbi’s ex-wife Zodwa Mkandla, who possibly claim to have known him better than anyone else set the record straight as she spoke about Ginimbi’s humble beginning, work ethic, and how he transformed his life and went from rags to riches.
Speaking during an interview with the Sunday Mail, Zodwa said that she watched Ginimbi grow from nothing to something through sheer hard work and dedication.
She revealed that he started off in the gas business, where he established Pioneer Gas before he ventured into the fuel business through multimillion-rand tenders to supply diesel to mining conglomerates in Botswana and South Africa.
“When we first met, Genius had nothing to his name — anga asina chinhu — but the man was such a hard worker. He would wake up at 5 am to do his gas business. He continued to work hard throughout his life until he made it to the top,” she said.
“I was the first in business, hence I was wiser. Genius had bigger business ideas but I always helped him with the wisdom. Likewise, I would go to him for business advice,” she said.
Zodwa rubbished claims that Ginimbi was an occultist and that he used juju to amass such great wealth. She claims that the only “black magic” she knew Ginimbi practised was burning the candle from both ends.
“What I can say without any shadow of a doubt is that Ginimbi was a go-getter and never used juju.”
“If there are snakes which vomit money, why can’t people get them and be rich? I watched Genius grow from nothing to a millionaire through sheer hard work,” she said.
Zodwa also spoke out on Ginimbi’s ‘all-white parties’ as some social media critics speculated that they were rituals associated with his ‘all-white parties’.
“We all have our colors and his theme was white; what has that to do with mushonga (rituals)? I lived with Genius and I never saw any juju or rituals. The parties were just him having fun. Anga arimunhu aida zvekunakirwa hake,” said Mkandla.