BY ENOCK MUCHINJO
HARARE – Collen Tafireyi’s early forays into South Africa in pursuit of fortune didn’t initially yield super-expensive bulls, or big bucks, but exclusive football stories.
He didn’t use to fly business class as he does now. Those days it was the overnight road trip by bus across the border from his native Zimbabwe’s capital city Harare to Johannesburg, at times enduring the biting cold of this region’s winter seasons.
The entrepreneurial streak in Tafireyi was evident to those who knew him closely back then.
But to many of them, he was nothing more than a young fellow armed with just a small travel bag, big ideas and ambitions to change his life for the better. Worlds apart from today’s Collen Tafireyi, the mining magnate and cattle rancher who last week made international headlines after a record-setting purchase of a South African Boran bull worth R8 million (some US$444 000).
BAGGING THE AWARDS: Collen Tafireyi (middle) with some members of the Hurwitz family, the biggest Boran breeders in South Africa.
Tafireyi didn’t instantly extract gems on those trailblazing trips to the City of Gold, so he looked for ways to deal with the frustrations that comes with starting a business. Since he dabbled in sports journalism, he found solace in this pastime of his.
The frequent visits down south, and Tafireyi’s way with people, cultivated a close relationship with Zimbabwe’s South Africa-based football stars, who started to freely share their stories with their good journalist friend.
With communication and internet not as advanced, before WhatsApp and the social media boom, news gathered by Tafireyi in Mzansi would survive for weeks. Be it about the next Zimbabwean player moving to the South African league, or someone transferring from one SA Premiership club to another.
Arriving back home, the weekly Zimbabwe Independent was one of Tafireyi’s favourite destinations, the scoops in his notebook or recording device. It’s a bygone era in Zimbabwean media, laptops a rarity: editors duly sending the resourceful freelancer, Codza, to share a worn-out desktop computer with junior reporters like myself.
He laughs heartily when I remind him of those times.
“Ha ha ha! You have a sharp memory bro,” quips Tafireyi in an interview with SportsCast. “Ja, I used to speak on the phone with the guys and I would always make efforts to visit the players at their bases, especially the training grounds. For example I would hike to go and see Alois Bunjira train at Chloorkop with Mamelodi Sundowns. I would patiently wait for him to finish, then we had the interview. Alois would then invite me to sleep over at his house. The same would happen with the Kaizer Chiefs pair of Tinashe Nengomasha and Kelvin Mushangazhike at their Naturena training base. I was very passionate about the stories of our players and I would make sure I was the first to break the news. I have always been serious with anything I do.”
Collen Tafireyi with Johan van der Nest of Southern African Stud Sales.
Tafireyi studied business and journalism in Harare in the early 2000s, but the newsroom was never the first choice for a permanent workstation. He has always been drawn to shiny things and glitter, so gold naturally was a befitting first step towards success.
“You’ll remember that I was a stringer for KickOff magazine in South Africa as well as Standard and Independent newspapers back in Zim around 2002-05,” recalls the 44-year-old tycoon.
“Prior to that, I had worked for one of the mining supply companies in Botswana. So in 2006 I formed my own mining supply company, Rene Mining & Industrial. It is today the leading distribution company for underground mining equipment machinery and spares across Zimbabwe. It’s in the public domain, I have won business awards for excellence in that sector.
“Taking you back, I supplied the mines and other industrial companies back then. I used to supply equipment for the Maguta project, done by the RBZ (Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe), back in 2007-08 during the days of hyperinflation. I have been working hard for a long time. I have always been a hard-worker, very determined to achieve what I want. This success is a culmination of my hard work. I decided to have the good works speak for themselves at the expense of the proprietor!
“Cattle farming is a diversification of my growth in business. The serious investments I have made is testament to what we stand for – breeding quality animals. That doesn’t come cheap.”
That diversification, which has now culminated into another stand-alone million-dollar business for Tafireyi, started as a “hobby” just three years ago.
“We started in 2021 soon after the ravaging Covid-19 pandemic,” explains Tafireyi.
“I started it as a hobby and later after researching, I discovered that this one was a big business. I started seriously investing in it. So the focus moved from just an ordinary cattle farm to a proper stud farm, investing in quality animals and breeding good genetics in Zimbabwe for the local and export markets.
“As soon as I got to grasp the concept, I realised we didn’t have good enough genetics in our country. So I grabbed the opportunity to expand it, it is a highly lucrative and rewarding business. It is a long-term investment, not like the common street deals or tenders. It is a business with high rewards and huge spin-offs, but for the long-term. The motivation is to build a rich genetic pool for the Boran breed in Zimbabwe and beyond. I’m playing a huge role in the transformation of stud breeding and the restoration of our national herd, which is currently depleted. We have a lot of work on our hands, but I’m glad we are on the right path. Very soon, Zimbabwe will be the home of the very best of genetics.”
Tafireyi, who farms in the Zimbabwean agricultural district of Hwedza, made the historic transaction at the Hurwitz Farming Auction in Mpumalanga last week.
He is expecting a very handsome sum from his investment in due course.
“This is big business, if you do your research and home-work,” he says. “Stud breeding pays better than ordinary commercial farming. It is a long-term investment, and one for generations. It is highly profitable, that is why you see big figures being thrown around. When you invest in cattle, you are buying the future, you are buying trust and hope. Genetics don’t lie. Once you do things right, ultimately you will reap the rewards.”
Born in Chivhu, 146-km south of Harare, Tafireyi was at first raised and partly educated in his rural-cum-urban birthplace which, perhaps not coincidentally, was established nearly two centuries ago by Boer farmers big on cattle ranching.
From Chivhu, Tafireyi’s humble beginnings took him to the townships of Harare – living in Glen Norah and Warren Park – in between a stint in Botswana.
Tafireyi is a supporter of CAPS United, one of Zimbabwe’s biggest clubs, and English giants Manchester United. But he has spent a great deal of time away from the sport during the course of building his business empire.
This has also coincided with a tumultuous period in the history of his two beloved clubs, putting a dent in the love affair.
“To be honest, I love football a lot, but I’m no longer that diehard fan,” concedes Tafireyi.
“These days I’m totally hooked on the cattle, I’m a passionate cattleman. Football comes with a lot of stress, and I have told myself to concentrate on something that excites me. Cattle farming is not just a business, it’s also a lifestyle and recreational. I love CAPS and Man U. But lately they have not been doing well, giving their fans heartache. So I have saved myself from the stress that comes with it.”
What a better way to avoid stress than amassing riches through a “recreational” activity.
