Two months after an employee was shot at the Mugabe family residence in a wealthy Johannesburg suburb, a South African court has fined and ordered the deportation of Robert Mugabe’s youngest son due to two unrelated charges.
Bellarmine Chatunga Mugabe, 28, and his cousin Tobias Mugabe Matonhodze, 33, faced attempted murder charges following the February 19 incident. Earlier this month, Matonhodze pleaded guilty to attempted murder, firearms offenses, defeating the ends of justice—due to the gun not being found—and violating immigration law. He received a three-year prison sentence on Wednesday.
Mugabe faced fines of 400,000 rand (£17,851) for brandishing a toy gun in a manner perceived as threatening and 200,000 rand (£8,919.50) for immigration violations. He pleaded guilty to both charges. The judge ordered authorities to escort him to Johannesburg’s international airport for deportation to Zimbabwe.
Magistrate Renier Boshoff remarked, “I cannot determine whether the second accused took the blame for you; I can only act on the evidence presented.”
Boshoff noted that the sentences considered the men’s guilty pleas, the time served since the February shooting, and the victim, 23-year-old Sipho Mahlangu, who wished to withdraw charges after receiving payment from Mugabe and Matonhodze. Prosecutors sought longer sentences for both defendants.
Investigating officer Raj Ramchunder revealed that Mahlangu received 250,000 rand (£11,150), with an additional 150,000 rand (£6,690) promised.
Robert Mugabe ruled Zimbabwe for nearly 40 years, initially celebrated for ending white minority rule but later criticized for authoritarianism, hyperinflation, and economic decline. He was ousted in a 2017 coup and passed away two years later at age 95.
Mugabe and his brother, Robert Junior, 34, gained notoriety in the 2010s for flaunting their extravagant lifestyles on social media. In 2017, their mother, Grace Mugabe, avoided legal repercussions in South Africa by claiming diplomatic immunity after model Gabriella Engels accused her of assault.
The magistrate also acknowledged that Mugabe and his cousin were first-time offenders, despite Mugabe’s previous legal troubles in Zimbabwe. Reports indicate he was arrested in 2024 for allegedly assaulting a police officer and faced additional allegations of assaulting a security guard at a goldmine last June. The current status of those cases remains unclear.
