The youngest son of Zimbabwe’s late former president Robert Mugabe was formally charged with attempted murder on Monday after appearing briefly in a South African court, prosecutors said.
Bellarmine Mugabe, 28, was arrested last week following a shooting incident at a property in the affluent Hyde Park suburb of Johannesburg. A 23-year-old man was shot and seriously injured during the incident, according to authorities.
Mugabe was taken into custody along with his bodyguard, Tobias Tamirepi Matonhodze, 33. Neither has commented publicly on the charges.
Appearing in court dressed in black, Mugabe remained calm as the charges were read. The case was postponed to March 3, when the court is expected to hear a bail application.
South African prosecutors said police recovered spent bullet cartridges at the Hyde Park property but had not found the firearm used in the shooting. As a result, both accused also face a charge of defeating the ends of justice, linked to the alleged disappearance of the weapon.
According to the National Prosecuting Authority, the shooting followed an altercation inside Mugabe’s home. Prosecutors allege that the victim was shot in the back while attempting to flee and collapsed outside the property’s gate, which was then closed.
The injured man remains in hospital in critical condition, authorities said.
Speaking outside court, Mugabe’s lawyer, Sinenhlanhla Mnguni, told reporters that his client was “fine” and remains in custody.
Bellarmine Mugabe is the youngest child of Robert Mugabe and his second wife, Grace Mugabe. Robert Mugabe ruled Zimbabwe for 37 years before being removed from power in a military intervention in 2017. He died in 2019.