JOHANNESBURG - An immigration specialist said Bellarmine Mugabe could still return to South Africa, but only under strict conditions.
Botsang Moiloa said the Immigration Act governs the process that allows individuals to enter the country for business, property interests, or other legitimate reasons.
Moiloa said Mugabe would need to formally apply to the Home Affairs Director-General, who will decide whether he can enter or not.
The DG would have to consider the conditions the Court imposed when handing down the sentence.
Mugabe walks with fine, cousin jailed
Mugabe, the son of the late former Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe, was fined R600,000 and deported from South Africa after being convicted in connection with the shooting of an employee, Sipho Mahlangu, at his Hyde Park residence in February.
He and his cousin, Tobias Mugabe Matonhodze, were sentenced by the Alexandra Magistrate's Court on Wednesday.
READ | Mugabe's son hit with R600,000 fine or two years in prison
Mugabe admitted to being in South Africa illegally and to pointing a toy gun in a separate incident.
Matonhodze, on the other hand, pleaded guilty to attempted murder and other charges.
Matonhodze received concurrent prison terms of up to three years, which the court described as "merciful," citing, among other mitigating factors, that the complainant had been remunerated.
The court ordered Mugabe’s immediate deportation, with police escorting him to OR Tambo International Airport.
Matonhodze will be deported after serving his sentence.
Why Mugabe did not go to Lindela
Moiloa said deportation processes differ depending on an individual’s circumstances.
In most cases, undocumented foreign nationals are taken to the Lindela Repatriation Centre in Krugersdorp, which is a detention centre for those awaiting deportation and not a prison.
“People who end up here often do not have the means to transport themselves outside the country, or possibly waiting for family to raise funds for them, or they have not been identified as to where a person comes from.”
In Mugabe’s case, he was able to fund his own departure.
“At his cost, he would have had to buy a ticket for himself, and they will see him off at the airport to make sure he has left the country in accordance with the court ruling, where he will then be handed over to the Zimbabwean authorities,” he said.
Moiloa said if Mugabe did not have the means to fund the travel, he too would have ended up at the detention centre until arrangements were made.
READ | Mugabe's son deported from South Africa
Because deportation processes do not happen daily, Moiloa said Mugabe would have had to wait for the next time travel happens, which can sometimes be once a month or even as simple as having to wait for the bus to be full.
Cash, cash, cash, and more cash
To date, Mugabe’s case has cost about R1million, excluding travel and legal costs.
This is taking into account the R600,000 fine and the R400 000 compensation to Mahlangu, who was shot twice in the back.
He has already received R250,000.
Moiloa emphasised that deportation costs are incurred by the individual.