10 years in a Zimbabwean prison – Rusty Labuschagne’s lessons in survival, now told in a book and upcoming film

From representing Zimbabwe in rugby to flying high as a successful safari operator, Rusty Labuschagne’s life came crashing down when he was wrongfully convicted of murdering a poacher in December 2000. In this interview with BizNews, he shares his harrowing journey through a decade in Zimbabwean prisons, where he was crammed into a cell holding 79 men, each allotted barely 33 centimetres of sleeping space. He recounts the unimaginable conditions, watching thousands of inmates die from starvation, disease, and cholera outbreaks while he survived. Rusty relives the cruelty, the loss, and the unexpected clarity that emerged from the darkness, and the lessons he drew about hope, forgiveness, and gratitude. Today he shares those lessons with audiences worldwide, and his memoir, Beating Chains, is now being adapted for film.