The youngest son of the former Zimbabwe president was detained after a gardener was shot at his home in South Africa.
Published On 19 Feb 2026
The youngest son of former Zimbabwe president Robert Mugabe has been arrested after a gardener was shot at his home in South Africa, police and a family lawyer said.
Lawyer Ashley Mugiya told The Associated Press news agency that Bellarmine Chatunga Mugabe was one of two men detained and questioned on Thursday.
South African police said that both men were later placed under arrest and will face charges of attempted murder.
The authorities confirmed that an employee at the house had sustained a single gunshot wound and was in a critical condition, though it wasn’t clear how many shots in total were fired.
“The motive of the shooting is unknown at this stage, and police investigations are under way,” Colonel Dimakatso Nevhuhulwi said.
Police did not name the two men who were arrested, though South African police typically decline to name suspects until they have appeared in court and been formally charged.
South African national broadcaster SABC said the shooting occurred at the younger Mugabe’s home in a plush Johannesburg suburb.
Photographs on local media outlet IOL News showed pictures of Mugabe, 29, in handcuffs and being escorted away by police.
Nevhuhulwi said that both suspects had been uncooperative when police first arrived on the scene.
“They have not told us where the gun is,” Nevhuhulwi said. “We cannot definitely say who shot.”
Mugiya, a lawyer based in Zimbabwe, said lawyers in South Africa would represent Mugabe in the case.
Zimbabwe’s former leader
Mugabe is the youngest son of Zimbabwe’s former leader, who died in Singapore in 2019, and his second wife, Grace Mugabe. The late Zimbabwean leader was ousted in a 2017 military takeover after 37 years in power.
The former president’s two sons with Grace Mugabe, Robert Jr and Bellarmine, sometimes live in Johannesburg.
The Mugabe family has been embroiled in several criminal cases over the years.
Bellarmine Chatunga Mugabe’s older brother, Robert Mugabe Jr, was fined $300 last year after admitting to possession of marijuana in Zimbabwe.
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 Zimbabwe’s first lady at the time and was initially ordered to appear in court before later being granted diplomatic immunity.