Chatunga Mugabe faces more charges in the shooting case

A missing gun and a collapsed accused couldn't stop South Africa's attempted murder case against Chatunga Mugabe from gaining more legal weight.

The case against Chatunga Mugabe

• Robert Mugabe's son Chatunga Bellarmine Mugabe, 28, and co-accused Tobias Matonhodze, 33, are both locked up in South Africa.
• Their bail hearing is scheduled for March 3, 2026, at the Alexandra Magistrate's Court.
• A 23-year-old employee is still in critical condition after getting shot at the Mugabe family's Hyde Park property in Johannesburg.
• Private investigator Mike Bolhuis publicly shut down speculation that the missing firearm would tank the prosecution.

Charges keep piling up

• What started as a single attempted murder charge ballooned into a three-count indictment after the February 23 court appearance.
• Gauteng police spokesperson Colonel Dimakatso Nevhuhulwi confirmed the charges of unlawful firearm possession and defeating the ends of justice.
• Spent cartridges were recovered at the scene, but K9 units and forensic teams still haven't tracked down the weapon.
• Investigators are also looking into whether the crime scene got tampered with before police showed up.

Courtroom chaos and Mugabe's health scare

• Chatunga reportedly collapsed twice in custody, allegedly due to a pre-existing medical condition requiring medication.
• Both accused got mistakenly shipped to the Randburg Magistrate's Court instead of Alexandra, which annoyed the presiding magistrate.
• Lawyer Jason Saus confirmed his client was in good spirits but flagged that the defence wasn't formally notified of the defeating-the-ends-of-justice charge beforehand.
• Saus stayed tight-lipped on defence strategy, citing ongoing investigations.

The Mugabe family's South African legal history

• Grace Mugabe's 2017 assault controversy involving model Gabriella Engels put the family in South Africa's legal spotlight years earlier.
• Then-Minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane's diplomatic immunity grant for Grace was later struck down by the High Court.
• An active arrest warrant keeps Grace Mugabe from crossing into South Africa to support her son.
• Chatunga also faced arrest in Zimbabwe in 2025 following a violent confrontation at a gold-mining concession in Mazowe.