What we know so far
Zimbabwe international Divine Lunga survived a shooting in Johannesburg on Sunday, 5 July 2026, South African police have confirmed.
SAPS spokesperson Captain Tintswalo Sibeko said police are investigating a case of attempted murder after Lunga’s car came under fire while he was driving through Hillbrow. She confirmed no arrests have been made and offered no further detail on the circumstances.
Lunga, who plays left-back for Mamelodi Sundowns and has represented Zimbabwe’s national team, escaped unharmed.
The Citizen’s Phakaaathi desk has reported that Lunga was travelling to church with his younger brother when the shooting occurred, and that the pair had become lost while navigating an area unfamiliar to them. That account has not been confirmed by police, and Captain Sibeko did not address it directly.
Why it matters
The incident places one of South African football’s most decorated current players at the centre of a live police investigation, days before Mamelodi Sundowns are due to leave for a pre-season training camp in Austria.
It also lands amid wider public concern over armed crime in Johannesburg’s inner city. South Africa has one of the highest murder rates in the world, and Hillbrow in particular has repeatedly featured in reporting on gun violence in Gauteng this year, including a separate shooting linked to the 30 June anti-immigration marches in the same suburb.
For Zimbabwean football, the shooting comes as Lunga remains an active member of the Warriors’ squad during World Cup qualifying, meaning any injury or legal fallout would have had direct bearing on the national team’s plans. As it stands, Lunga was not hurt, and Sundowns confirmed he returned to training on Monday.
Neither Mamelodi Sundowns nor the Zimbabwe Football Association has issued a formal statement on the shooting. Zimbabwe’s national team did post an image of Lunga in a prayer pose to its social media account, captioned “In God we trust,” but this falls short of an official comment on the circumstances of the attack.
Key details and figures
The shooting took place on Tudhope Street in Hillbrow, according to local reports citing police accounts of the incident. Lunga was travelling in a BMW at the time.
Local reports, including South African radio station Kaya959, cited a police account stating that an unidentified man approached Lunga’s vehicle believing its occupants were undercover traffic officers. The man reportedly claimed occupants of another vehicle had robbed him of an amount local reports put at R34 000, roughly US$2,100, and asked for help tracking them down.
According to this account, Lunga and his companions followed the vehicle in question, and one of its occupants then opened fire, with at least one bullet said to have struck the BMW. Police have not independently confirmed this sequence of events on the record, and it is presented here as reported by local outlets rather than as an official SAPS account.
Lunga is 31 years old, has made 21 appearances for Zimbabwe’s national team, and was part of the Warriors’ squad for 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifying matches. He joined Mamelodi Sundowns in 2021 and has since won four domestic league titles and two CAF Champions League titles, most recently in May 2026.
A case of attempted murder has been registered at Hillbrow police station. No suspects have been named or arrested as of Tuesday, 7 July 2026.
What happens next
The Hillbrow investigation remains open, and SAPS has not indicated a timeline for arrests. Captain Sibeko’s confirmation covers only the existence of the case and the absence of arrests; the fuller sequence of events, including whether the robbery report that preceded the shooting was genuine, remains unverified.
Mamelodi Sundowns are expected to depart for their pre-season training camp in Austria in the coming days, where they are due to face Red Bull Salzburg and Al Hilal in warm-up fixtures. Lunga’s participation has not been publicly addressed by the club beyond confirming his return to training.
Southafriworld will update this story if SAPS releases further details, if either Mamelodi Sundowns or the Zimbabwe Football Association issues a statement, or if arrests are made in connection with the shooting.
