An employee at the home of the son of former Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe has been rushed to hospital after he was shot at a house in Hyde Park on Thursday morning.
Police have confirmed two men aged 24 and 33 have been taken for questioning. Sowetan understands Mugabe’s son, Bellarmine Mugabe, is one of them.
Gauteng police spokesperson Col Dimakatso Nevhuhulwi told reporters outside the house that police will be investigating an attempted murder charge after the 23-year-old gardener was shot.
“According to the information we have, around 10am a diplomatic unit was patrolling around the area and they were stopped by a security vehicle that informed them there was a shooting incident in the area,” Nevhuhulwi said.
“Upon arriving here … they found the victim who was shot. They managed to speak to him before he was taken to hospital, and according to the victim, he indicated that he is an employee.”
Nevhuhulwi said the circumstances of the shooting were still unclear. Police are on the scene conducting a preliminary investigation. A dog unit was also searching the house for the firearm alleged to have been used to shoot the employee, as it could not be found.
“At the moment we will be taking into custody two people, aged 33 and 24. They will be taken in for questioning to determine what actually led to the shooting,” she said.
Nine years ago, Bellarmine Mugabe was in the news when his mother, Grace Mugabe, was alleged to have assaulted a 20-year-old South African woman who was at a Sandton hotel with her sons.
Gabriella Engles was allegedly visiting Bellarmine Mugabe and Robert Mugabe junior when Grace Mugabe allegedly attacked her with an electric cable at the upmarket hotel.
However, Zanu-PF’s Twitter account accused Engles of having been the aggressor, saying she had attacked Grace Mugabe.