Court Postpones Chatunga Mugabe Case

Bellarmine Chatunga Mugabe and his co-accused Tobias Mugabe Matonhodze briefly appeared at the Alexandra Magistrate’s Court in Johannesburg on Tuesday, with proceedings postponed to 24 March 2026 as negotiations toward a plea agreement enter their final stages.

The matter was delayed after the State indicated it was not yet ready to proceed, while confirming that discussions around a plea deal were almost complete, with only minor aspects still to be finalised. The two accused had earlier withdrawn their bail applications after it emerged that they were allegedly in South Africa illegally, a factor that significantly weakened their chances of release.

Mugabe, the son of Zimbabwe’s late former president Robert Mugabe, and Matonhodze have been in custody since their arrest in February following a shooting incident at a residence in Hyde Park, an affluent suburb of Johannesburg. Prosecutors allege that the pair were involved in the shooting of a 23-year-old employee, who was left critically injured.