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Former Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe’s son faces attempted murder charges in South African court

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — The son of Zimbabwe’s late former President Robert Mugabe appeared in a South African court on Monday with another man to face charges of attempted murder after a shooting at his home in Johannesburg last week.

Bellarmine Chatunga Mugabe, 29, and his co-accused Tobias Mugabe Matonhodze, 33, are also facing two additional charges of defeating the ends of justice and unlawful possession of a firearm.

These are related to the firearm believed to have been used during the shooting when an employee at the Mugabe home in the Johannesburg suburb of Hyde Park was shot on Thursday last week, leading to his hospitalization.

The two accused appeared in the Alexandra Magistrates Court and will appear again on 3 March to make a formal bail application.

According to the police, the firearm used during the shooting has not been found since the two men were arrested last Thursday.

Police identified the person who was shot as the gardener at the home and said there had been an “altercation,” though the motive was still unclear.

Bellarmine Chatunga Mugabe is the youngest son of Robert Mugabe and his second wife Grace Mugabe.

Robert Mugabe led Zimbabwe for 37 years before he was deposed in a coup in 2017. He died two years later in Singapore at the age of 95.

Beijing bans 4 New Zealand lawmakers from entering China because they visited Taiwan

By WTOP Staff
WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — Beijing banned four New Zealand lawmakers from traveling to China for a year and demanded they apologize because they visited Taiwan on a parliamentary trip, according to a message from the Chinese embassy conveyed via parliamentary officials and shown to The Associated Press on Thursday. China has hit lawmakers from other countries with sanctions related to contact with Taiwan before, but it's the first time for New Zealand parliamentarians, the government in Wellington said. Beijing has been increasing pressure in recent years on the democratically governed island that it claims as its own territory. Two lawmakers reached by the AP on Thursday rejected the demand for an apology, while the other two could not be immediately reached. New Zealand's government said it would express concern about the travel bans to Beijing. The elected officials visited Taipei in May, as New Zealand parliamentarians have done “for decades,” a spokesperson for Foreign Minister Winston Peters said in a statement.
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