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A son of late Zimbabwe leader Mugabe is ordered deported from South Africa

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — A magistrate ordered a son of the late Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe to be immediately deported from South Africa on Wednesday after he pleaded guilty to two criminal charges earlier this month.

Magistrate Renier Boshoff ordered that Bellarmine Mugabe be taken by police to an international airport in Johannesburg and be sent back.

Mugabe, 29, had pleaded guilty to brandishing an object “likely to lead a person to believe it is a firearm” and being in South Africa illegally. He was ordered to pay around $36,000 in fines or serve two years in prison.

Mugabe and another man, identified as his cousin, were arrested in February and initially faced charges of attempted murder over the shooting of an employee at Mugabe’s home in Johannesburg. The police have not found the gun used.

Mugabe pleaded guilty to lesser charges unrelated to the shooting in a deal with prosecutors.

His cousin, Tobias Matonhodze, pleaded guilty to attempted murder over the shooting and other charges and was sentenced to three years in prison. Matonhodze will be deported to Zimbabwe after he completes his sentence, the magistrate ruled.

“I do not know whether the second accused took the rap for you,” Boshoff told Mugabe. “Number two pleaded guilty on all these counts… and I can only act on what is before me.”

Mugabe is the youngest child of the former Zimbabwean leader and his second wife, Grace Mugabe. Robert Mugabe led Zimbabwe for 37 years and became renowned as one of Africa’s longest-serving autocrats before he was removed in a coup in 2017. He died two years later, aged 95.

The Mugabe family has been embroiled in several criminal cases over the years.

Grace Mugabe was accused of assaulting a model by beating her with an electrical cord in the presence of her sons at a luxury Johannesburg hotel in 2017. She was first lady at the time and was initially ordered to appear in court, but later was granted diplomatic immunity.

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AP Africa news: https://apnews.com/hub/africa

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

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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