Bellarmine Mugabe, son of the late Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe, and his cousin Tobias Matonhodze pleaded guilty on Friday to charges related to a February shooting at Mugabe's Hyde Park home in Johannesburg. They requested non-custodial sentences, fines, and voluntary deportation to Zimbabwe. Sentencing was postponed to April 24.
Bellarmine Mugabe (28) and Tobias Matonhodze (31) appeared at the Alexandra Magistrates’ Court in Johannesburg on April 17, 2026, pleading guilty to charges stemming from a shooting incident on February 19 at Mugabe’s Hyde Park residence and an earlier firearm-pointing episode that month.
Mugabe admitted to pointing a firearm and contravening South Africa’s Immigration Act by entering and remaining in the country unlawfully. Matonhodze confessed to more serious offenses, including attempted murder of employee Sipho Mahlangu—whom he shot twice in the back—obstructing justice by concealing the firearm, unlawful possession of a firearm and ammunition, and immigration violations. Police recovered two cartridges but not the weapon.
Their lawyers, including advocate Laurence Hodes and Sinenhlanhla Mnguni, argued for no jail time, citing the pair’s clean records in South Africa, farming businesses in Zimbabwe employing 30 to 65 people, and monthly incomes of $8,000–$10,000 for Mugabe and $2,000–$5,000 for Matonhodze. They offered funds for fines and victim reparations, referencing the 2010 case of rugby player Jacobus Stephanus ‘Bees’ Roux, who received a non-custodial sentence after paying R750,000 to a police officer’s family he killed while drunk driving.
‘For instance, if you look at the case of Jacobus Stephanus Roux, that was a far more serious matter than the one that either of our clients have faced,’ Mnguni told reporters.
Prosecutor Vincent Maphiri called SAPS provincial commissioner Colonel CP Raj, who testified the pair showed no remorse and failed to help recover the firearm. Sentencing was deferred to April 24 for further probes into the weapon and compensation claims. Mugabe has prior incidents in Zimbabwe and Johannesburg.
