Bellarmine Mugabe deported from SA

Bellarmine Mugabe, the youngest son of the late former Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe, has been deported from South Africa (SA) after escaping an attempted murder charge – walking away instead with a R600 000 fine for lesser offences, reports City Press. Back home in Harare, many of his compatriots are furious. Mugabe arrived in Harare on Wednesday evening on a flight from Johannesburg and was quickly whisked away from Robert Mugabe International Airport in a convoy of four black cars that waited for him at the international arrivals gate. He was charged with contravening SA’s immigration laws and with brandishing a toy gun in a manner likely to be mistaken for a real firearm – relating to a separate incident in 2023. This was a significant reduction from the attempted murder charge he had faced for the 19 February shooting of Sipho Mahlangu, a gardener at the Mugabe residence in Hyde Park. His co-accused, Tobias Matonhodze, pleaded guilty to attempted murder, firearms offences, defeating the ends of justice – the firearm was never recovered – and contravening immigration laws.

Magistrate Renier Boshoff acknowledged uncertainty about the case. ‘I do not know whether the second accused took the rap for you, and I can only act on what is before me.’ His lawyer, Sinenhlanhla Mnguni, dismissed these suspicions as unfounded. Boshoff described the sentence as ‘merciful’, ordering Mugabe to pay a R400 000 fine for the toy gun incident and R200 000 for the immigration violations. Jacob Ngarivhume, the leader of opposition party Transform Zimbabwe, said Mugabe’s deportation was a test for the state, as he has cases pending at home, according to City Press. ‘We wait to see if President Emmerson Mnangagwa will allow justice to be served. In 2024, Mugabe was arrested for violent conduct near Beitbridge after brandishing a knife during an altercation with a police officer who accused him of resisting arrest. That matter is still before the courts.