Bredenkamp, an international arms merchant, mining entrepreneur, oil dealer and hotelier, maintains that Zimbabwe's economic and political crisis will ease once a resolution of the land issue is reached. Normally Bredenkamp shuns the limelight, but there is no doubt that he is a key player. Mugabe strives to make it appear that his chief enemies are Zimbabwe's whites. Mugabe doesn't care where it comes from. Bredenkamp's elegant Harare offices boast a museum-quality collection of African masks and other artefacts.
Ministers breeze in unannounced for quick visits, showing an unusual familiarity and friendliness .
His demeanour is affable and charming but those who have done business with him say this masks a steely determination and ruthlessness. Aged 55, he is a self-made man who has devoted supporters and vociferous detractors. He first rose to prominence as a star of the Rhodesian national rugby team and he began amassing his fortune in the tobacco business. His firm, Casalee, had success in breaking international sanctions and selling Rhodesian tobacco overseas, and it became a major international shipping and forwarding company. Having learnt to evade sanctions, Bredenkamp then moved into arms trading and reportedly sold weapons to Smith's government.