A South African court has fined and ordered the deportation of Bellarmine Chatunga Mugabe, the 28-year-old youngest son of former Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe, on two separate charges. Mugabe and his cousin Tobias Mugabe Matonhodze, 33, were initially charged with attempted murder after an employee was shot in the back at the Mugabe family home in a wealthy Johannesburg suburb on February 19.
Matonhodze pleaded guilty to attempted murder, firearms offenses, defeating the ends of justice, and immigration law violations, and was sentenced to three years in prison. Mugabe was fined 400,000 rand (£17,851) for pointing a toy gun in a manner likely to be perceived as a real firearm in a separate 2023 incident, and 200,000 rand (£8,919.50) for breaking immigration law. The magistrate ordered police to escort him to Johannesburg's international airport for deportation to Zimbabwe.
Magistrate Renier Boshoff told Mugabe: "I do not know whether the second accused took the rap for you, and I can only act on what is before me." The magistrate cited mitigating factors including the guilty pleas, time served since the shooting, and the victim's desire to withdraw charges after receiving payment from Mugabe and Matonhodze. Prosecutors had sought lengthy jail terms for both men. Investigating officer Raj Ramchunder stated that the victim, 23-year-old Sipho Mahlungu, was paid 250,000 rand (£11,150) with an additional 150,000 rand (£6,690) promised.
Robert Mugabe ruled Zimbabwe for nearly 40 years, initially hailed as a hero for ending white minority rule, but his tenure turned authoritarian, marked by hyperinflation and economic collapse. He was ousted in a 2017 coup and died two years later at age 95. Mugabe and his older brother Robert Junior gained notoriety in the 2010s for flaunting their lavish lifestyle online. In 2017, their mother Grace Mugabe avoided prosecution in South Africa by invoking diplomatic immunity after model Gabriella Engels accused her of assault with an electric cable.
The magistrate also noted that both Mugabe and his cousin were first-time offenders. However, Mugabe has previously faced legal troubles in Zimbabwe: in 2024, he was allegedly arrested for assaulting a police officer at a roadblock, and in June 2023, he was arrested and bailed for allegedly assaulting a security guard at a goldmine. The status of those cases remains unclear.
Source: www.theguardian.com