JOHANNESBURG – The youngest son of Zimbabwe’s former president Robert Mugabe has pleaded guilty to reduced charges in a shooting case that left his gardener badly wounded.

Bellarmine Chatunga Mugabe (29) pleaded guilty on Friday to pointing a gun and illegally being in South Africa, but denied shooting the gardener following an altercation in Johannesburg’s Hyde Park district in February.

His cousin and co-accused, Tobias Mugabe Matonhodze (32), pleaded guilty to attempted murder. Matonhodze also admitted to contravening immigration and firearm laws.

Both men had been in police custody since their arrest on 19 February on attempted murder charges.

“We had initially engaged with the state with the intention of finalising a plea and sentencing agreement but those discussions collapsed at the last minute,” Mugabe’s counsel Sinenhlanhla Mnguni said.

Mnguni dismissed suggestions that Matonhodze was taking the fall for Mugabe, calling the claims “very ludicrous”.

The firearm used in the shooting has not been recovered. The case was adjourned to 24 April.

Bellarmine is one of two sons Robert Mugabe had with his second wife Grace. The brothers have at times lived in Johannesburg, where they have gained a reputation for partying and living extravagantly.

Notorious lifestyle

Bellarmine and Robert Junior became widely known in the 2010s for displaying their extravagant lifestyles on social media. In 2017, Bellarmine posted a photograph of his watch on Instagram with the caption: “$60,000 on the wrist when your daddy run the whole country ya know!!!” A video later circulated showing him dousing the watch with champagne.

Their father ruled Zimbabwe for almost 40 years until he was deposed in a coup in 2017. He died two years later aged 95. While he initially came to power as a liberation hero who ended white minority rule, his leadership descended into tyranny and corruption, presiding over hyperinflation and economic collapse.

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The Mugabe family’s taste for luxury extended beyond the brothers. Their mother, Grace Mugabe, who was 40 years her husband’s junior, earned the nickname “Gucci Grace” for her expensive shopping habits. Reports of property purchases in Johannesburg, Singapore, Dubai and Malaysia, along with a rumoured R1.6 million shopping spree in Paris, cemented her reputation.

Previous legal troubles

In 2017, Grace Mugabe avoided prosecution in South Africa by invoking diplomatic immunity after model Gabriella Engels accused her of assault. Engels alleged the former first lady hit her with an electric cable until she bled following an encounter with the Mugabe brothers at a hotel. Grace denied the allegations.

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Robert Junior has his own history of run-ins with the law. In 2023, he was arrested for allegedly causing more than R200 000 worth of damage to cars and other property at a party in Zimbabwe’s capital, Harare. Last year, he was fined for possessing cannabis after being arrested whilst driving the wrong way down a one-way street.

Robert Mugabe, who died in 2019, was in power for 37 years before he was ousted in a 2017 coup.