Robert Mugabe’s son to be deported from South Africa over firearms offence

The youngest son of Zimbabwe’s late former leader Robert Mugabe is to deported from South Africa immediately, a court in Johannesburg has ordered.

Bellarmine Mugabe pleaded guilty to pointing a firearm and illegally being in the country earlier this month after he was arrested following the shooting of a 23-year-old man at his home.

The 28-year-old has also been ordered to pay a fine of $36,000 (£26,700).

His co-accused, and cousin, Tobias Matonhodze – who pleaded guilty to attempted murder, illegal immigration, possession of ammunition and defeating the ends of justice – was sentenced to three years in prison.

Both men were arrested on 19 February when police were called to Mugabe’s home in the upmarket Johannesburg suburb of Hyde Park.

A man who worked at the premises was taken to hospital in a critical condition after he was shot.

Prosecutors previously told the court that the shooting followed a row between the three men inside the property, and that the victim was shot twice in the back outside as he tried to flee.

The authorities have yet to find the gun.

Mugabe was also previously charged with attempted murder, but after Matonhodze pleaded guilty, the charge was dropped.

The charge of pointing a gun relates to a separate, unrelated incident but Mugabe agreed to have the two cases heard together, the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) told the BBC earlier this month.

Handing down his sentence, the judge said the gun was a toy but that it was “likely to lead a person to believe it was a firearm”.

Mugabe has had multiple brushes with the law.

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