JOHANNESBURG, South Africa – Chatunga Bellarmine Mugabe, the youngest son of late former Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe, has been charged with attempted murder after allegedly shooting his gardener at a property in Hyde Park, Johannesburg.
Police were called to the upmarket suburb on Thursday following reports of a shooting.
On arrival, officers found a 23-year-old man bleeding from a gunshot wound.
He was rushed to hospital, where his condition was described as critical.
Mugabe, 28, and another man aged 33 were arrested in connection with the incident.
Gauteng police spokesperson Dimakatso Nevhuhulwi said officers recovered a spent cartridge at the scene, while a police dog unit was deployed to assist in locating the firearm allegedly used in the shooting.
“The victim is a gardener and apparently he did not come to work for sometime and there was an altercation regarding that.
“The victim was shot once,” Nevhuhulwi told journalists at the scene.
A police officer escorts Chatunga Bellarmine Mugabe to a vehicle following his arrest on an attempted murder charge.
Mugabe was arrested twice last year in Zimbabwe — once for disorderly conduct at a police roadblock, and later for assault after he allegedly led a group of men armed with AK47 rifles to attack illegal gold panners accused of encroaching on a family farm in Mazowe.
His elder brother, Robert Mugabe Jr, has also faced several arrests in South Africa, including charges related to assault, drug possession and malicious damage to property.
