The bail proceedings for Bellarmine Chatunga Mugabe, son of the late former Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe, were abruptly halted and postponed due to a sudden power outage that plunged the courtroom into darkness.
The matter, involving charges of attempted murder and defeating the ends of justice alongside co-accused Tobias Matonhodze, was rolled over to the following week as court operations could not continue without electricity.
This interruption occurred on Thursday at the Alexandra Magistrate’s Court in Johannesburg, South Africa, where the accused had been expected to formally apply for bail amid ongoing service delivery challenges that have previously plagued the facility.
The reason for the outage remained unclear immediately, though officials noted the court has long suffered from recurring infrastructure and maintenance issues affecting judicial proceedings.
Mugabe’s legal representative, Sinenhlanhla Mnguni, confirmed outside the court that the postponement was solely due to the power failure, with the case now rescheduled for Wednesday, March 11.
The defendants remain remanded in custody as a result, unable to secure release pending the resumption of their bail hearing once power is restored and normal court functions resume.
