{"id":116464,"date":"2026-04-17T21:23:12","date_gmt":"2026-04-17T19:23:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/mugabes-son-guilty-of-shooting-and-immigration-crimes"},"modified":"2026-04-17T23:54:52","modified_gmt":"2026-04-17T21:54:52","slug":"mugabes-son-guilty-of-shooting-and-immigration-crimes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/mugabes-son-guilty-of-shooting-and-immigration-crimes","title":{"rendered":"Mugabe&#8217;s Son Guilty of Shooting and Immigration Crimes"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"color: #ff6600\"><strong>Africa-Press &#8211; Zimbabwe. <\/strong><\/span>HARARE, Apr. 17 (NewsDay Live) \u2013 Bellarmine Chatunga Mugabe, son of former president Robert Mugabe, on Friday pleaded guilty to pointing a firearm and violating South Africa\u2019s immigration laws, as a high-profile shooting case in Johannesburg moved to sentencing.<\/p>\n<p>Mugabe entered the plea in the Alexandra Magistrate\u2019s Court in connection with a February 2026 incident at the family\u2019s Hyde Park residence, an upmarket suburb of Johannesburg.<\/p>\n<p>His co-accused, Tobias Matonhodze, also pleaded guilty to multiple charges \u2014 attempted murder, defeating the ends of justice, illegal immigration and unlawful possession of ammunition \u2014 linked to the shooting of a 23-year-old gardener who was seriously injured.<\/p>\n<p>The matter now shifts to sentencing following weeks of plea negotiations that prosecutors had earlier indicated were close to conclusion.<\/p>\n<p>The shooting occurred at the Mugabe family property in Hyde Park, where a gardener was shot and rushed to hospital in critical condition. While full details of the altercation were not ventilated in court, investigations pointed to a missing firearm allegedly used in the incident, forming the basis of the charge of defeating the ends of justice against Matonhodze.<\/p>\n<p>The case took a decisive turn in March after South African authorities confirmed that both accused were in the country without valid permits. The development led to the withdrawal of their bail applications and accelerated plea discussions.<\/p>\n<p>Legal analysts say Matonhodze, who faces the most serious charge of attempted murder, could receive a lengthy custodial sentence, with South African law providing for penalties of up to 15 years.<\/p>\n<p>Mugabe\u2019s conviction on immigration-related offences also opens the possibility of deportation upon completion of any sentence.<\/p>\n<p>The case has attracted regional attention given the Mugabe family\u2019s political prominence. Robert Mugabe ruled Zimbabwe for 37 years before being removed from power in November 2017 and died in 2019.<\/p>\n<p>Bellarmine Mugabe, widely known as Chatunga, is one of two sons of Robert and Grace Mugabe.<\/p>\n<p>The court is expected to set a sentencing date in the coming weeks. Neither the family nor their legal representatives had commented at the time of publication.<\/p>\n<p><strong>For More News And Analysis About <span style=\"color: #ff6600\">Zimbabwe<\/span> Follow <span style=\"color: #ff6600\">Africa-Press<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Africa-Press &#8211; Zimbabwe. HARARE, Apr. 17 (NewsDay Live) \u2013 Bellarmine Chatunga Mugabe, son of former president Robert Mugabe, on Friday pleaded guilty to pointing a firearm and violating South Africa\u2019s immigration laws, as a high-profile shooting case in Johannesburg moved to sentencing. Mugabe entered the plea in the Alexandra Magistrate\u2019s Court in connection with a [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":116463,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,4],"tags":[19],"class_list":["post-116464","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-community","tag-zimbabwe"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.1 (Yoast SEO v27.0) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Mugabe&#039;s Son Guilty of Shooting and Immigration Crimes - zimbabwe<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"HARARE, Apr. 17 (NewsDay Live) \u2013 Bellarmine Chatunga Mugabe, son of former president Robert Mugabe, on Friday pleaded gu ...\" \/>\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\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/mugabes-son-guilty-of-shooting-and-immigration-crimes\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Mugabe&#039;s Son Guilty of Shooting and Immigration Crimes\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"HARARE, Apr. 17 (NewsDay Live) \u2013 Bellarmine Chatunga Mugabe, son of former president Robert Mugabe, on Friday pleaded gu ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/mugabes-son-guilty-of-shooting-and-immigration-crimes\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"zimbabwe\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-04-17T19:23:12+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-04-17T21:54:52+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/sites\/14\/2026\/04\/sm_1776461365.691705.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1502\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1000\" \/>\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=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/mugabes-son-guilty-of-shooting-and-immigration-crimes#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/mugabes-son-guilty-of-shooting-and-immigration-crimes\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Mugabe&#8217;s Son Guilty of Shooting and Immigration Crimes\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-04-17T19:23:12+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-04-17T21:54:52+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/mugabes-son-guilty-of-shooting-and-immigration-crimes\"},\"wordCount\":358,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/mugabes-son-guilty-of-shooting-and-immigration-crimes#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/sites\/14\/2026\/04\/sm_1776461365.691705.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Zimbabwe\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"community\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/mugabes-son-guilty-of-shooting-and-immigration-crimes#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/mugabes-son-guilty-of-shooting-and-immigration-crimes\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/mugabes-son-guilty-of-shooting-and-immigration-crimes\",\"name\":\"Mugabe's Son Guilty of Shooting and Immigration Crimes - 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