They live in luxury apartments costing $6 000 a month, wear designer labels, drink champagne worth $500 per bottle, cruise around Johannesburg in chauffeur-driven limousines, and Report focus can exclusively reveal that their combined pocket money exceeds $40 000 every month.
Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe’s sons, Robert Jnr (24) and Bellarmine Chatunga (20), are living in the lap of luxury. Impeccable sources said each boy receives more than $20 000 in pocket money every month, in addition to the rentals and living expenses which are footed in Zimbabwe.
Interestingly, Mugabe revealed in 2015 that the government paid him a monthly salary of $12 000. His wife Grace said Mugabe is the poorest president in the world.
The Mugabe family’s only known private business, a dairy located 35 kilometres north of Harare, is a perennial loss-maker.
Chatunga posted a video on YouTube last week showing him smoking expensive cigars and sipping on pricey champagne.
In the almost 13-minute video, he boasts of a lavish lifestyle, which includes regular boozing at top nightclubs.
In remarks that have upset many, he advises Zimbabweans to “live your life and have fun”.
The United Nations says more than 72 percent of Zimbabwe’s 14 million people live in “extreme poverty” and the suffering is often attributed to Mugabe’s failed policies.
Bizarrely, on Saturday President Mugabe advised impoverished Zimbabweans to desist from flocking to Johannesburg, adding: “Going to Joni (Johannesburg) is no longer necessary…there’s enough land for you here”.
His remarks triggered a social media firestorm, with many questioning his sincerity, considering that his sons are based in Johannesburg and his wife is currently seeking medical treatment for a sore ankle in the same city.
Two weeks ago, Mugabe’s sons painted Harare red with a display of extravagant spending which is still the talk of the town.
They went into a leading nightclub and bought expensive whiskey and champagne worth thousands of dollars.
One patron who witnessed the spectacle said he counted 51 bottles averaging $190 each.
Zimbabweans are now asking tough questions: Where is Mugabe getting the money to pamper his sons? Are public funds being abused?
Last month, Mugabe’s sons, who failed their secondary school examinations and are well-known for a wild partying lifestyle, were evicted from The Regent luxurious apartment in Morningside, Sandton, Johannesburg’s wealthiest area, after a violent brawl left one bodyguard with a broken leg and arm.
Robert Jnr and Chatunga were kicked out of apartment number 601 at the 10-storey block whose monthly rental is $6 000 for the four-bedroomed penthouse.
The property has 24-hour security, fingerprint-secured elevator access, five-metre-high perimeter fence, restaurant, gym and spa.
Previous pictures and videos have shown the two boys living large, enjoying booze-fuelled binges and entertaining a harem of trendy young ladies and splurging on life’s finest luxuries.
Mugabe’s sons relocated to Johannesburg at the beginning of this year, with Robert Jnr moving from Dubai where he was studying architecture at the American University and Chatunga from Harare where he was running a butchery and liquor outlet.
The authorities in Dubai had complained about Robert Jnr’s conduct following fights and reports involving banned substances.
In Dubai, Robert Jnr lived in a rented ultra-luxurious apartment costing $42 000 a month.
He is now a student at the University of Johannesburg.
Their mother Grace had to rush to Sandton after they were evicted from the luxury apartment for disorderly conduct. Reliable sources told African Independent the boys have since moved into a more expensive apartment in Sandton.
Grace has complained about her sons’ untoward behaviour. Strangely, she blames “spirits attacking our children”.
“Nowadays there are spirits attacking our children. The spirit of drinking, drug abuse and doing other abnormal things way beyond their age. I am telling you because the behaviour of the children does not matter if they are the president’s children or not. All children are mischievous,” Grace told guests at her sister’s birthday party last month.
Christopher Mutsvangwa, chairman of the Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans’ Association and the country’s former ambassador to China, has condemned the behaviour of Mugabe’s sons, saying their sister and the president’s only daughter, Bona, “is the only level-headed among the children of the president”.
Matsvanga said when Bona was deported from Australia because of “targeted sanctions”, he arranged for her to enroll at Hong Kong’s City University where she later graduated with a degree in accountancy.
Bona is now married. The economic meltdown may be giving Mugabe and his wife sleepless nights, but the two playboys in Johannesburg are their biggest nightmare.
