JOHANNESBURG — Police swarmed the upscale Hyde Park home of Bellarmine Mugabe on Thursday after a 23-year-old gardener suffered a gunshot wound there around 10 a.m. The employee, who spoke briefly to responding officers before medics rushed him to a hospital, now faces an attempted murder investigation.

Gauteng police spokesperson Col. Dimakatso Nevhuhulwi addressed reporters outside the gated property. She detailed how a diplomatic patrol unit, while scanning the neighborhood, got flagged down by a security vehicle reporting the shooting. The officers arrived to find the victim bleeding from a wound. He identified himself as a household employee, according to Nevhuhulwi.

The firearm remains missing. A dog unit combed the house and grounds, but turned up nothing by late morning. Investigators taped off the scene, with blue lights flashing against the manicured lawns of the leafy Johannesburg suburb.

“We’re taking two suspects into custody — one 33 years old, the other 24,” Nevhuhulwi said. “They’ll face questions to piece together what happened.” Police sources told reporters that Bellarmine Mugabe, who owns the property, is the 33-year-old detainee. No charges have been filed yet. Nevhuhulwi stressed that detectives still need to clarify the events leading to the shooting.

The incident draws eyes to the Mugabe family, long dogged by controversy in South Africa. Nine years back, in 2017, Bellarmine made headlines alongside his mother, Grace Mugabe. She allegedly beat 20-year-old South African Gabriella Engels with an electrical cord at a Sandton hotel. Engels had been visiting Bellarmine and his brother, Robert Jr.

Zanu-PF’s official Twitter account fired back at the time. It claimed Engels started the fight by attacking Grace Mugabe. Grace avoided prosecution through diplomatic immunity as Zimbabwe’s then-first lady. Bellarmine stayed out of that probe.

Hyde Park sits in northern Johannesburg’s ritzy precincts, home to diplomats and tycoons. Diplomatic security often patrols these streets, which explained the quick response Thursday. Neighbors heard what sounded like a single shot, but none saw the shooter or victim, police said.

Officers planned to hold the two men at a local station overnight. Forensics teams lifted fingerprints and bagged evidence from the home’s driveway and interior. Nevhuhulwi promised updates once detectives interview the gardener, now stable in intensive care.

Bellarmine Mugabe, in his early 30s, keeps a low profile these days. He settled in South Africa after his father’s 2017 ouster from power. Robert Mugabe died in 2019 at 95. The family retains ties to Zimbabwe’s elite, though Grace has faded from politics.

Police urged witnesses to come forward. The shooting marks the latest brush with violence linked to the Mugabe name in Johannesburg, where their presence has sparked diplomatic tensions before.