{"id":30675,"date":"2026-04-19T03:48:02","date_gmt":"2026-04-19T07:48:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/?p=30675"},"modified":"2026-04-19T03:48:02","modified_gmt":"2026-04-19T07:48:02","slug":"former-zimbabwe-leader-robert-mugabes-son-pleads-guilty-to-pointing-a-gun-in-south-africa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/2026\/04\/19\/former-zimbabwe-leader-robert-mugabes-son-pleads-guilty-to-pointing-a-gun-in-south-africa\/","title":{"rendered":"Former Zimbabwe leader Robert Mugabe’s son pleads guilty to pointing a gun in South Africa"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The youngest son of Zimbabwe’s late former leader Robert Mugabe has pleaded guilty to pointing a firearm and illegally being in South Africa.<\/b><\/p>\n

Bellarmine Mugabe entered guilty pleas to the two charges after he was arrested in February following the shooting of a 23-year-old man at his home in Johannesburg.<\/p>\n

The 28-year-old has been held in custody alongside co-accused Tobias Matonhodze, and appeared at the court in Alexandra on Friday.<\/p>\n

Lawyers for the men told the court they were prepared to return to their native Zimbabwe at their own expense if they do not receive a custodial sentence.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Matonhodze, 33, pleaded guilty to attempted murder, defeating the ends of justice, illegal immigration and possession of ammunition.<\/p>\n

Mugabe – who was also previously charged with attempted murder – spoke only to confirm that he understood the charges and to enter his pleas after he had reached a deal with prosecutors.<\/p>\n

The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) did not say what had happened to the charge of attempted murder he had faced.<\/p>\n

Both men were arrested on 19 February after police were called to Mugabe’s home in the upmarket Johannesburg suburb of Hyde Park.<\/p>\n

A man, believed to be a security guard, was taken to hospital in a critical condition after he was shot.<\/p>\n

Prosecutors previously told the court that the shooting followed a row between the three men inside the property, and that the victim was shot twice in the back outside as he tried to flee.<\/p>\n

Authorities, who conducted a search of the home, have yet to find the gun.<\/p>\n

Sentencing proceedings have been postponed to 24 April, the NPA said.<\/p>\n

Since Mugabe’s arrest, the case has faced several delays and his bail hearing was postponed twice.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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This not the first time Mugabe has had a brush with the law.<\/p>\n

In 2024 he was arrested for allegedly assaulting a police officer in the Zimbabwean border town of Beitbridge.<\/p>\n

He was given bail but a warrant for his arrest was later issued after he failed to appear in court, Zimbabwe’s state-run Herald newspaper reported at the time.<\/p>\n

A year later in June, he was again arrested for assaulting a security guard at a mining site in Mazowe, an hour’s drive north of the capital, Harare. The case remains ongoing.<\/p>\n

Bellarmine Mugabe is one of two sons Robert Mugabe had with his second wife, Grace.<\/p>\n

The former president, who died in 2019, was in power for 37 years before being ousted in a 2017 coup.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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