By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Bellarmine Chatunga Mugabe, the son of the late former Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe, will spend another week in custody following the postponement of his bail hearing on Monday, 23 February 2026.
Mugabe and his co-accused appeared in Alexandra Magistrate court on Monday.
The police were called to Mugabe’s residence on Thursday after shots were fired. Mugabe and his co-accused were subsequently arrested at the Bramley Police Station after a two-hour negotiation with the police.
The gardener remains in hospital following the shooting on Thursday.
The police returned to the Hyde Park residence to recover the gun along with a forensics team, K-9 unit and diving team. But after a weekend of searching the residence, the firearm has yet to be located.
Mugabe and his co-accused face three charges including attempted murder, defeating and obstructing the course of justice as well as the possession of a firearm. The added charges come after the police found bullet cartridges but did not recover the firearm.
Prosecutor Lufuno Maphiri indicated that the state intends to rely on the doctrine of common purpose on the first charge, adding that the second charge stems from the alleged disappearance of the firearm believed to have been used to commit the offence.
“That is defeating and obstructing the course of justice. This is in relation to the firearm that was allegedly used during the commission of the offence, which, to date, has not been recovered. Both of them are facing that charge,” he said.
The state confirmed that it intends to oppose the accused’s release on bail at this stage. Maphiri said further investigations are under way, including profiling procedures and verification of the men’s status in South Africa.
“The state still needs to do the profiling of both accused persons to also check their status in the Republic of South Africa,” he said.
Mugabe was not asked to enter a plea. The case against him and a second suspect was postponed until March 3 to allow for further investigations.
The head of public diplomacy for the Department of International Relations and Cooperation, Clayson Manyela, provided clarity that Mugabe would not automatically be granted diplomatic immunity, as immunity was derived from official capacity and Mugabe was not part of a diplomatic mission.
Robert Mugabe ruled Zimbabwe for 37 years after independence from Britain in 1980. He was ousted in a military coup in 2017 and died in 2019 at a hospital in Singapore, aged 95.