Son of late Zimbabwe President Mugabe detained in South Africa over shooting

A son of former Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe was detained for questioning along with another man over the shooting of a man at a house in Johannesburg, South Africa’s national broadcaster reported.

SABC named Bellarmine Chatunga Mugabe as one of the two detained and said the shooting occurred at his home.

He is the youngest son of Zimbabwe’s former leader, who died in 2019, and his second wife, Grace Mugabe.

The broadcaster said Mugabe was seen in handcuffs in the driveway after police arrived.

South African police said in a statement that an employee at the house in a plush Johannesburg suburb had been shot and was in a critical condition.

Police did not name the two men taken in for questioning but said they were investigating a case of attempted murder.

“The motive of the shooting is unknown at this stage and police investigations are underway,” police spokesperson Colonel Dimakatso Nevhuhulwi said.

Robert Mugabe led Zimbabwe for 37 years before he was deposed in a coup in 2017. He died two years later in Singapore at the age of 95.

Bellarmine Chatunga Mugabe’s older brother, Robert Mugabe Jr, was fined 300 dollars last year after admitting to possession of marijuana in Zimbabwe.

Grace Mugabe was accused of assaulting a model in the presence of her sons Robert Jr and Bellarmine 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.