John Arnold Bredenkamp was a Zimbabwean businessman and rugby union footballer.
15 Facts About John Bredenkamp
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John Bredenkamp was orphaned in his mid-teens on his birthday when while he was riding his bike, on return he found his father had shot his mother and sister and then shot himself.
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John Bredenkamp was educated in Southern Rhodesia at Prince Edward School, Salisbury.
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John Bredenkamp was reported to have lost Zimbabwean citizenship "by default" in 1984, but this was restored to him shortly thereafter.
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John Bredenkamp was reported to hold Zimbabwean, South African and Dutch passports.
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John Bredenkamp owned tobacco-processing factories in the Netherlands, Zimbabwe, Malawi and Brazil.
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Since then, John Bredenkamp has expanded his business interests into many other different areas, mainly through the Zimbabwe registered Breco company.
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John Bredenkamp's career took off in earnest during the late 1970s when he became deeply involved in the commercial affairs of the embargoed UDI regime in Rhodesia.
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John Bredenkamp's "sanctions busting" deals sustained the UDI regime for far longer than would otherwise have been possible.
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John Bredenkamp gained considerable clout in the political and economic affairs of Zimbabwe.
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John Bredenkamp became something of a power behind the scenes in the ruling ZANU-PF party.
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John Bredenkamp was linked to claims to facilitate the retirement of Mugabe in 2000, by the Guardian's investigation into the leaked US embassy cables.
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In September 2006 John Bredenkamp was tried in Zimbabwe on charges that he used a South African passport on international journeys.
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John Bredenkamp was ordered to produce documentary evidence of his renunciation of South African citizenship to have his nationality restored permanently.
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From 2008 until his death, John Bredenkamp was the subject of US sanctions aimed at people of significant influence within the Zimbabwean government.