{"id":82423,"date":"2026-04-17T22:44:03","date_gmt":"2026-04-17T22:44:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/gun-drama-heirs-in-court-over-firearm-offense"},"modified":"2026-04-17T22:49:29","modified_gmt":"2026-04-17T22:49:29","slug":"gun-drama-heirs-in-court-over-firearm-offense","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/gun-drama-heirs-in-court-over-firearm-offense","title":{"rendered":"Gun Drama Heirs in Court Over Firearm Offense"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Zambia. <\/strong><\/span>In a dramatic court development, Bellarmine Chatunga Mugabe has pleaded guilty to pointing a firearm and residing in South Africa illegally, while his cousin, Tobias Matonhodze, admitted to a string of serious charges including attempted murder, defeating the ends of justice, illegal immigration, and unlawful possession of ammunition.<\/p>\n

Defence lawyer Laurence Hodes urged the court to consider leniency, proposing suspended sentences as a stern warning rather than immediate incarceration. He also suggested financial penalties and compensation for the victim, Sipho Mahlangu, emphasizing the accused\u2019s willingness to take responsibility.<\/p>\n

Both men have indicated they are prepared to self-deport from South Africa. The case has been postponed to April 24, allowing time for confirmation that Mahlangu has received compensation and for authorities to secure the accused\u2019s cooperation in locating the firearm involved.<\/p>\n

The case continues to draw significant public attention.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Zambia<\/span> Follow Africa-Press<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Zambia. In a dramatic court development, Bellarmine Chatunga Mugabe has pleaded guilty to pointing a firearm and residing in South Africa illegally, while his cousin, Tobias Matonhodze, admitted to a string of serious charges including attempted murder, defeating the ends of justice, illegal immigration, and unlawful possession of ammunition. Defence lawyer Laurence Hodes […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":82422,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,12],"tags":[233],"class_list":["post-82423","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-policy","tag-zambia"],"yoast_head":"\nGun Drama Heirs in Court Over Firearm Offense - Zambia<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"In a dramatic court development, Bellarmine Chatunga Mugabe has pleaded guilty to pointing a firearm and residing in Sou ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/gun-drama-heirs-in-court-over-firearm-offense\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Gun Drama Heirs in Court Over Firearm Offense\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In a dramatic court development, Bellarmine Chatunga Mugabe has pleaded guilty to pointing a firearm and residing in Sou ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/gun-drama-heirs-in-court-over-firearm-offense\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Zambia\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-04-17T22:44:03+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-04-17T22:49:29+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/zambia\/sites\/35\/2026\/04\/sm_1776466137.167375.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"376\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/gun-drama-heirs-in-court-over-firearm-offense#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/gun-drama-heirs-in-court-over-firearm-offense\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Gun Drama Heirs in Court Over Firearm Offense\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-04-17T22:44:03+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-04-17T22:49:29+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/gun-drama-heirs-in-court-over-firearm-offense\"},\"wordCount\":159,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/gun-drama-heirs-in-court-over-firearm-offense#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/zambia\/sites\/35\/2026\/04\/sm_1776466137.167375.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Zambia\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"policy\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/gun-drama-heirs-in-court-over-firearm-offense#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/gun-drama-heirs-in-court-over-firearm-offense\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/gun-drama-heirs-in-court-over-firearm-offense\",\"name\":\"Gun Drama Heirs in Court Over Firearm Offense - 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