By Mapaballo Borotho
- Bellarmine Chatunga Mugabe’s lawyers have dismissed claims that he recently returned to South Africa, saying a viral photo of him in Midrand is outdated.
- They declined to reveal his current location but insisted he is not in the country and is complying with a five-year ban on re-entering South Africa.
- Mugabe was deported to Zimbabwe in April after pleading guilty to firearm and immigration-related offences.
Lawyers representing Bellarmine Chatunga Mugabe, the son of the late Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe, have dismissed social media claims that he was recently spotted at a retail store in Midrand despite being barred from entering South Africa.
According to his legal team, the viral social media post is based on an old photograph.
The claims emerged after a post circulated over the weekend purporting to show Mugabe at a shopping centre in Midrand, Johannesburg.
“The post is false and misleading. It relies on an old photograph of Mr Mugabe which has been recirculated and falsely presented as if it were recently taken,” his lawyers said in a statement issued on Monday, 13 July 2026.
They added that, to the best of their knowledge, Mugabe is no longer in South Africa but declined to disclose his current whereabouts.
“I’m not at liberty to disclose where he is, but I can assure you that he’s not within the borders of the Republic of South Africa.
Mr Mugabe is not presently in the Republic of South Africa, and any suggestion that the photograph depicts a recent sighting is entirely incorrect,” the statement read
Mugabe’s criminal conviction in South Africa
The 28-year-old was arrested in February this year following a violent altercation at his late father’s Hyde Park residence.
Mugabe and his cousin, Tobias Matonhodze, were accused of shooting their gardener during the incident. The employee was critically injured.
During proceedings in the Alexandra Magistrate’s Court, Matonhodze pleaded guilty to attempted murder, defeating the ends of justice, possession of a firearm, pointing a firearm and contravening the Immigration Act.
While Mugabe pleaded guilty to pointing a firearm and contravening the Immigration Act.
In April, the pair entered into a Section 112 plea agreement with the State. As part of the agreement, the attempted murder charge against Mugabe was withdrawn.
The court subsequently fined Mugabe R600,000 and ordered his immediate deportation to Zimbabwe. He was escorted from court to OR Tambo International Airport before returning to Harare the same day.
His co-accused, Matonhodze, was sentenced to an effective three years’ imprisonment and is expected to be deported after serving his sentence.
READ NEXT: Robert Mugabe’s youngest son arrested after shooting incident in Hyde Park
