According to the Zimbabwe Independent, Robert Junior and Bellarmine Chatunga landed in Zimbabwe this week accompanied by four aides.

The two were in South Africa - where they are based - when Mugabe was forced out of office after the military took over in Zimbabwe last month. Mugabe had been in power since 1980. His wife Grace Mugabe appeared to have been eyeing the presidency herself.

"The boys arrived this week accompanied by four aides. Their arrival was low key and it's most likely that they will keep it that way for a while," a source familiar with developments at Mugabe’s mansion was quoted as saying.

The source said indications were that the Mugabes were set to jet out of the country to Malaysia where the former leader's daughter Bona was expecting her second child.

Mugabe was also expected to "fly to Singapore for his regular medical checks at Gleneagles Hospital".

Mugabe's sons were known for their extravagant life style and were at the centre of their mother's legal problems in South Africa in August.

Grace made headlines after she allegedly assaulted the 20-year-old Gabriella Engels on August 13 using an extension cord while her bodyguards looked on.

Engels claimed that Grace burst into the room where she was waiting with two friends to meet Chatunga and started assaulting her with an electric cable.

Photos taken by her mother soon after the incident showed a gash of Engels’ forehead and head. She also had bruises on her thighs.

News24