Staff Reporter
The family of Bellarmine Chatunga Mugabe, the youngest son of deceased former Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe, has warned the public and newsrooms to disregard “false” and unauthorised statements circulating in the media, saying only the family’s lawyers are mandated to comment on his arrest.
Bellarmine’s mother, Grace Mugabe, has an outstanding South African arrest warrant issued in 2018 over an alleged 2017 assault in Johannesburg, after a court set aside a government decision that had granted her diplomatic immunity.
In a statement issued this weekend, the family said it had not “appointed, authorised, nor mandated” any public relations firm, media consultant, spokesperson or other third party to speak on its behalf.
The family said any statements claiming to represent the family “are false, unauthorised, and must be disregarded in their entirety”.
“All media enquiries and requests for comment must be directed exclusively to the family’s legal representatives,” it said, adding the family reserved its rights against unauthorised statements or “misrepresentations” that could prejudice its interests.
The warning comes as police are investigating an attempted murder case after a shooting at a Hyde Park residence in Johannesburg linked to Mugabe, which left a 23-year-old employee in hospital with gunshot wounds.
Police said two men were taken in for questioning and later arrested, and that investigators were still searching for the firearm used in the shooting.
Mugabe and the second suspect are expected to appear at the Alexandra Magistrate’s Court on Monday.
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