Bellarmine Mugabe, son of former Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe.

• Bellarmine Mugabe has pleaded guilty to pointing a firearm at a victim and illegally entering South Africa.
• His co-accused, Tobias Matonhodze, pleaded guilty to attempted murder after allegedly shooting a gardener twice.
• The case has been postponed to 24 April for further investigation as the weapon remains missing.

Bellarmine Mugabe, the youngest son of the late Zimbabwean president, Robert Mugabe, pleaded guilty to pointing a firearm and being in South Africa illegally.

Mugabe appeared in the Alexandra Magistrate’s Court on Friday, alongside his co-accused, Tobias Matonhodze, for charges related to two separate incidents.

Mugabe’s case stems from an incident on 11 February at his Hyde Park residence, where he alleged that he pointed a toy gun at a victim, leading them to believe that it was a firearm.

His co-accused pleaded guilty to charges of attempted murder, disposing of a firearm used in the shooting, possession of a firearm, possession of ammunition, and entering and remaining in the country illegally. This is related to the 19 February incident where Mugabe’s 23-year-old gardener was shot twice in the back.

In Matonhodze’s plea statement, he confirmed that he “unlawfully and unintentionally attempted to kill Sipho Mahlangu by shooting him with a firearm twice on his back”.

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Matonhodze also pleaded guilty to defeating the ends of justice by concealing or disposing of the firearm used in the shooting.

The weapon has still not been found by the authorities.

The defence team proposed that Mugabe and Matonhodze be granted a suspended sentence, compensate the shooting victim, and pay for their own flight tickets back to Zimbabwe.

The investigating officer, Colonel CP Raj, took the stand as a witness to confirm the facts around the defence’s submissions on sentencing.

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Raj was unable to confirm whether Mahlangu has been remunerated for the impact of the offence. He further stated that he believes that the accused have shown no remorse for the shooting because they have not assisted the authorities with locating the firearm.

Raj said:

“At this stage, I have a tracking team available. Should they change their minds, it can be communicated through their attorneys, and we are available to act.”

The matter was postponed to 24 April for further investigations.

“The State is going to make a request for the postponement of this matter in order for the colonel to follow up on the issues that have been raised – the issue of compensation and the possibility of trying to locate the firearm that was used,” said State prosecutor Lufuno Maphiri.

Editor’s note: This article has been updated with additional information.