{"id":2350,"date":"2026-04-29T12:10:13","date_gmt":"2026-04-29T12:10:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/matabeletoday.com\/?p=2350"},"modified":"2026-04-29T12:10:13","modified_gmt":"2026-04-29T12:10:13","slug":"mugabes-son-accomplice-sentenced-in-sa-attempted-murder-case","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/matabeletoday.com\/?p=2350","title":{"rendered":"Mugabe\u2019s son, accomplice sentenced in SA attempted murder case"},"content":{"rendered":"

by TINTSWALO BALOYI\u00a0<\/em>
\nJOHANNESBURG<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 A South African court has fined Bellarmine Mugabe, the youngest son of former Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe, a total of R600 000 (US$36 164) for a shooting incident in Johannesburg earlier this year.<\/strong><\/p>\n

On Wednesday, the Alexandra Magistrates\u2019 Court imposed a fine of R400 000 (or 24 months\u2019 imprisonment) for pointing a firearm and R200 000 (18 months\u2019 imprisonment) for breaching immigration laws, after it emerged that the younger Mugabe (29) was in the country illegally.<\/p>\n

The court has also ordered his deportation forthwith.<\/p>\n

His co-accused and cousin, Tobias Matonhodze, has been sentenced to three years\u2019 imprisonment for attempted murder.<\/p>\n

The 33-year-old was found guilty of attempted murder and held liable for the missing firearm used in the shooting.<\/p>\n

The sentences stem from an incident in the leafy suburb of Hyde Park in northern Johannesburg, where a gardener was shot on the property during an altercation.<\/p>\n

Bellarmine\u2019s latest run-in with the law is part of a series of violent and criminal incidents bedevilling one of Zimbabwe\u2019s most prominent families, which was led by Mugabe for 37 years before he was ousted in a military coup in 2017.<\/p>\n

In 2015, Bellarmine, also known as Chatunga, was accused of leading armed men to attack security personnel, leaving one guard with broken limbs, in a case involving disputes over mining rights on land bordering a property owned by his mother.<\/p>\n

That incident occurred in the north-eastern Zimbabwean region of Mazowe, where he was also accused of assault in a separate case.<\/p>\n

In 2024, he was arrested in Beitbridge, on the border with South Africa, for allegedly assaulting a police officer at a roadblock.<\/p>\n

Born in 1996 when his parents married, Chatunga has a brother, Robert Junior, who is five years his senior.<\/p>\n

Robert Jnr was arrested in Harare in late 2025 on charges of possessing cannabis, which is illegal for recreational use in Zimbabwe.<\/p>\n

The elder Mugabe son was also arrested in 2023 on allegations of damaging property and assaulting a police officer during a quarrel at a party.<\/p>\n

The two sons of the former president frequently reside in South Africa, where they have been portrayed as living lavish, party-driven lifestyles.<\/p>\n

Indications are that the Mugabe family own and occupy multiple properties in South Africa.<\/p>\n

An arrest warrant was issued in 2017 for former first lady Grace Mugabe after she allegedly assaulted a young South African woman she found in the company of her sons at a property in Sandton.<\/p>\n

\u2013 CAJ News<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by TINTSWALO BALOYI\u00a0 JOHANNESBURG\u00a0\u2013 A South African court has fined Bellarmine Mugabe, the youngest son of former Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe, a total of R600 000 (US$36 164) for a shooting incident in Johannesburg earlier this year. On Wednesday, the Alexandra Magistrates\u2019 Court imposed a fine of R400 000 (or 24 months\u2019 imprisonment) for pointing […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1959,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[43,5,11,45,3],"tags":[493],"class_list":["post-2350","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-africa","category-featured","category-must-read","category-national","category-news","tag-bellarmine-mugabe"],"magazineBlocksPostFeaturedMedia":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/matabeletoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Bellarmine-Chatunga-Mugabe-1-150x150.jpg","medium":"https:\/\/matabeletoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Bellarmine-Chatunga-Mugabe-1.jpg","medium_large":"https:\/\/matabeletoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Bellarmine-Chatunga-Mugabe-1.jpg","large":"https:\/\/matabeletoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Bellarmine-Chatunga-Mugabe-1.jpg","1536x1536":"https:\/\/matabeletoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Bellarmine-Chatunga-Mugabe-1.jpg","2048x2048":"https:\/\/matabeletoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Bellarmine-Chatunga-Mugabe-1.jpg","post-thumbnail":"https:\/\/matabeletoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Bellarmine-Chatunga-Mugabe-1.jpg"},"magazineBlocksPostAuthor":{"name":"administrator","avatar":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a3d5ebfe727f13fb325bd400aaaf5e789d3e2e20898883d9ae8e3d3d42d58cef?s=96&d=mm&r=g"},"magazineBlocksPostCommentsNumber":"0","magazineBlocksPostExcerpt":"by TINTSWALO BALOYI\u00a0 JOHANNESBURG\u00a0\u2013 A South African court has fined Bellarmine Mugabe, the youngest son of former Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe, a total of R600 000 (US$36 164) for a shooting incident in Johannesburg earlier this year. On Wednesday, the Alexandra Magistrates\u2019 Court imposed a fine of R400 000 (or 24 months\u2019 imprisonment) for pointing […]","magazineBlocksPostCategories":["Africa","Featured","Must Read","National","News"],"magazineBlocksPostViewCount":27,"magazineBlocksPostReadTime":2,"magazine_blocks_featured_image_url":{"full":["https:\/\/matabeletoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Bellarmine-Chatunga-Mugabe-1.jpg",275,183,false],"medium":["https:\/\/matabeletoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Bellarmine-Chatunga-Mugabe-1.jpg",275,183,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/matabeletoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Bellarmine-Chatunga-Mugabe-1-150x150.jpg",150,150,true]},"magazine_blocks_author":{"display_name":"administrator","author_link":"https:\/\/matabeletoday.com\/?author=2"},"magazine_blocks_comment":0,"magazine_blocks_author_image":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a3d5ebfe727f13fb325bd400aaaf5e789d3e2e20898883d9ae8e3d3d42d58cef?s=96&d=mm&r=g","magazine_blocks_category":"Africa<\/a> Featured<\/a> Must Read<\/a> National<\/a> News<\/a>","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/matabeletoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2350","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/matabeletoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/matabeletoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/matabeletoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/matabeletoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2350"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/matabeletoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2350\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2351,"href":"https:\/\/matabeletoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2350\/revisions\/2351"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/matabeletoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1959"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/matabeletoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2350"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/matabeletoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2350"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/matabeletoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2350"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}