Siege In Hyde Park: Robert Mugabe’s Son Arrested After ‘Shooting Security Guard’
Johannesburg Update • February 19, 2026
A Son in Custody. The troubled youngest son of Zimbabwe’s late former president Robert Mugabe is in police custody tonight. Bellarmine Chatunga Mugabe, 29, was arrested at a luxury home in Johannesburg’s upmarket Hyde Park following a furious argument that ended in gunfire. Police negotiators were forced to race to the scene after the suspect allegedly barricaded himself inside, leaving a security guard fighting for his life.
| Scene of the Crime: Police swarmed the Hyde Park residence after reports of gunfire. |
Chaos erupted just after midday. Anti-crime activist Yusuf Abramjee reported that the situation escalated into a full-blown standoff when Chatunga refused to surrender. "He locked himself in a room and is refusing to open," Abramjee noted as hostage negotiators arrived. The victim, a security guard, was treated by emergency personnel on the scene for critical gunshot wounds.
Status: Arrested
Chatunga Mugabe faces attempted murder charges. Sources warn that without his father's protection, he may not "walk away" easily this time.
Standoff in the Suburbs
According to updates from the scene, the argument between the house owner and the guard turned violent rapidly. Yusuf Abramjee posted to X:
“It is believed that the son of the late & former Zimbabwe President, Robert Mugabe, opened fire on the guard. He locked himself in a room and is refusing to open. Police hostage negotiators are racing to the scene.”
Col. Dimakatso Sello of the Gauteng police confirmed SAPS presence, stating they were assessing the volatile situation.
A Pattern of Violence
In June 2025, Chatunga and his bodyguards were charged with five counts of assault at a mining site in Mazowe. Leading a group of men armed with AK-47s, they allegedly terrorized victims bordering Grace Mugabe’s farm.
Court papers revealed a brutal attack: “The trio stomped on the complainant several times whilst he was lying down... ordered [him] to carry a sack of gold ore... where they also took turns to assault him using wooden logs and an iron bar.”
In September 2024, Chatunga was arrested at a Beitbridge roadblock. When officers asked for documents, he allegedly brandished a knife and screamed:
“What are you doing, you are delaying me... I am rushing to a wedding in Harare, check my passport, don’t you know who I am?”
The End of Immunity?
Known for flaunting cash and luxury cars on social media, Chatunga has struggled to navigate life outside the protective bubble of his father’s 37-year rule.
A Zanu-PF politburo member noted the shift: “The reality of navigating life without Mugabe’s philosophical approach or first family privileges that could literally let his kids get away with murder is still hitting hard.”
With a victim in critical condition, sources suggest this latest incident may carry consequences that money and name recognition can no longer erase.
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