The case against Bellarmine Chatunga Mugabe and his cousin, Tobias Mugabe Matonhodze, was postponed again by the Alexandra High Court on Tuesday, 24 March 2026, to allow further investigations.
The delay followed unsuccessful plea negotiations between the defence and the prosecution.
Reports suggest that the prosecution is unhappy with the defence’s proposals. The matter has been adjourned to 17 April for further investigations.
The two men face seven charges, including contravening the Immigration Act, attempted murder, defeating the ends of justice and illegal possession of a firearm.
They surrendered their bail after questions arose over whether they were in the country illegally.
Defence counsel Sinenhlanhla Mnguni rejected suggestions that the defence was trying to avoid prison.
He said talks have centred on the nature of the charges rather than on sentencing and stressed that the defence is taking all the allegations seriously while awaiting the conclusion of the prosecution’s investigations. Said Mnguni:
“I just think we haven’t found each other as much as we would have liked at this point. I know you said another postponement, but you would have noted from the words of the magistrate that they have marked this as a final postponement, for the parties to finalise their negotiations, but also for the State to finalise their negotiations. We always conducted ourselves in good faith.”
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