JOHANNESBURG – In a landmark ruling handed down Wednesday, a South African magistrate has ordered the immediate deportation of Bellarmine Mugabe, the youngest son of Zimbabwe’s former longtime autocratic ruler Robert Mugabe, after the 29-year-old entered guilty pleas to two criminal charges earlier this month.
Magistrate Renier Boshoff ruled that law enforcement officials must transport Bellarmine Mugabe directly to Johannesburg’s OR Tambo International Airport for expulsion back to his native Zimbabwe. The conviction stems from an arrest in February, when Mugabe and his cousin, Tobias Matonhodze, were taken into custody following a shooting incident at Mugabe’s Johannesburg residence that left a domestic employee injured. Initially, both men faced far more severe attempted murder charges connected to the shooting, but investigators have never recovered the weapon used in the attack.
As part of a plea deal with South African prosecutors, Bellarmine Mugabe pleaded guilty to two reduced charges that are not linked to the shooting: illegally residing in South Africa without valid immigration status, and brandishing an item designed to convince others it was a functional firearm. As part of his sentencing, Mugabe was given the option to pay a fine of roughly $36,000 or serve a two-year prison term, with the deportation order taking effect regardless of his fine payment.
In contrast, Matonhodze pleaded guilty to the full attempted murder charge and additional related offenses, receiving a three-year prison sentence. The magistrate ruled that Matonhodze will also be deported to Zimbabwe once he completes his custodial sentence. Addressing Bellarmine Mugabe directly during the hearing, Boshoff acknowledged the unusual nature of the plea arrangement, noting, “I do not know whether the second accused took the rap for you. Number two pleaded guilty on all these counts… and I can only act on what is before me.”
Bellarmine Mugabe is the youngest child of Robert Mugabe and his second wife, Grace Mugabe. Robert Mugabe, who ruled Zimbabwe as an autocrat for 37 years, was ousted from power in a 2017 military coup and died two years later at the age of 95. This latest legal action is not the first time the Mugabe family has faced high-profile criminal scrutiny in South Africa. In 2017, when Grace Mugabe still held the position of Zimbabwe’s first lady, she was accused of assaulting a young model with an electrical cord at an upscale Johannesburg hotel, in front of her sons. Though a court initially ordered her to appear for trial, she was ultimately granted diplomatic immunity and avoided prosecution.