South African police arrested Bellarmine Chatunga Mugabe, 29, the youngest son of Zimbabwe’s late former president Robert Mugabe, at his luxury residence in Hyde Park, Johannesburg on Thursday after a gardener employed at the property was shot and left fighting for his life. A second man was also taken into custody. Both are expected to be charged with attempted murder, police said.
The incident began just after midday when private security flagged down police officers and reported that a shooting had taken place inside the walled estate. Gauteng provincial police spokesperson Colonel Dimakatso Nevhuhulwi confirmed at the scene that the two suspects would be taken into custody and were likely to be charged with attempted murder. Preliminary investigations indicated the victim was a 23-year-old gardener. Early information from the scene suggested an alleged labour dispute between the gardener and one of the suspects had led to the violent exchange.
The situation escalated significantly before officers were able to gain entry. Mugabe allegedly barricaded himself inside a room and refused to open the property’s gates, triggering an urgent call for specialised backup. Members of the elite SAPS Special Task Force arrived at the scene alongside hostage negotiators, signalling that authorities were treating the situation as potentially volatile. After initial reports suggested Mugabe had barricaded himself, Nevhuhulwi later confirmed he and his companion cooperated with authorities once officers gained access to the property. The two were photographed in handcuffs inside the estate before being transported to Bramley SAPS for questioning.
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The firearm used in the shooting had not been recovered as of Thursday afternoon. A single cartridge was found at the scene. Officers deployed specialist sniffer dogs to search the expansive property, and Nevhuhulwi confirmed they did not yet have the weapon. The victim was taken to hospital, where he remained in a critical condition.
Hyde Park, situated in the northern suburbs of Johannesburg within the broader Sandton corridor, is one of South Africa’s most exclusive residential areas, home to diplomats, executives, and wealthy foreign nationals. The scale and nature of the police response drew immediate attention from residents and local media, with anti-crime activist Yusuf Abramjee providing live updates throughout the afternoon on X as the standoff unfolded behind the property’s high perimeter walls.
Thursday’s arrest is the most serious in a sequence of alleged violent incidents involving Mugabe in recent years, spanning two countries.
In June 2025, he was charged with five counts of assault in Zimbabwe following an alleged violent incident at a mining site in Mazowe, bordering a farm associated with his mother, Grace Mugabe. According to Zimbabwe’s National Prosecuting Authority, he allegedly led a group of armed men onto the mining concession, where victims were beaten with wooden logs, an iron bar, and fists, with one security guard stomped on while lying on the ground. He was released on bail of US$200. Months later, in September 2024, he faced a separate allegation in Zimbabwe after allegedly brandishing a knife at a police officer at a roadblock in Beitbridge and shouting: “Do you know who I am?” In 2023, South African media reported he had been accused of assault following an altercation at a Sandton nightclub, though the outcome of that case was not publicly disclosed.
Mugabe has also drawn periodic public attention in South Africa for social media posts displaying large quantities of cash and luxury vehicles, content that generated public debate given Zimbabwe’s prolonged economic crisis and the conditions facing many ordinary Zimbabweans.
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Robert Mugabe, who governed Zimbabwe from independence in 1980 until he was removed in a military-backed transition in November 2017 at the age of 93, died in September 2019 in Singapore, where he was receiving medical treatment. His three children with his second wife Grace, two sons and a daughter, have lived primarily in South Africa since his removal from power. A Zanu-PF politburo member previously said of the Mugabe children: “The fall of Mugabe in November 2017 and his eventual death two years later had a direct and negative impact on his then relatively young children. Six years after his death, the reality of navigating life without Mugabe’s first family privileges is still hitting hard.”
No formal charges had been filed as of Thursday evening. Nevhuhulwi said the investigation remained at an early stage and that police would provide a formal briefing once preliminary inquiries were complete. The firearm, the central piece of evidence in the attempted murder investigation, had still not been located.
