Zimbabwe’s
first lady Grace Mugabe has told South African officials that she hit
20-year-old Gabriella Engels with an extension cord in an act of self-defence.
Mugabe
claims she was in fact the victim in the attack that happened last Sunday in a
flat in Sandton. This allegedly took place in the presence of numerous body
guards.
South
African news website – iol.co.za reports:
This is
according to highly-placed sources privy to the case.
“Mugabe is
adamant on the issue of protecting herself because she feels she was attacked.
She says she
was attacked by the victim and that she also has her own injuries which she is
not going to publish in the media,” said one source.
The assault,
which happened last Sunday has Zimbabwean and South African officials scurrying
behind the scenes to try to defuse what has become an embarrassing
international incident that has brought the diplomatic relations between the
two neighbours under intense scrutiny.
Engels
claims Mugabe assaulted her after she found her with her sons, Robert jr and
Chatunga Bellarmine.
But it
appears that the pair, known for their high-rolling lifestyles, also faced
their mother’s wrath that night.
“People are
not talking about the fact she did the same to her kids. She beats her kids
too,” the source said.
Engels
received cuts and bruises and had to crawl out of the room to escape, she
claimed. She said that Mugabe’s bodyguards stood by and watched.
Since the
attack, civil rights organisation AfriForum, has decided to represent Engels
and the “Bulldog” advocate Gerrie Nel has taken the case and is hoping to get
the Zimbabwean first lady in the dock, despite government’s fears of diplomatic
fallout.
When asked
why Mugabe didn’t open a police case against Engels, the official said that
Mugabe didn’t see it that way. The official explained how the incident had
placed the SAPS in a predicament.
“Yes,
clearly it was a difficult situation, a predicament because it was a
high-profile matter and all the things came colliding. It was a mad house, and
we had to ensure we don’t break the international law on how to treat important
delegates. In cases like this, you want to collect all the information from all
sides.”
The first
lady is apparently still holed-up in South Africa and is waiting for the
Department of International Relations and Co-operation (Dirco) to issue her
diplomatic immunity. Then she can leave.
If this
happens, this will be the second time that Mugabe has used this legal loophole
to escape prosecution.
In 2009, she
was given diplomatic immunity by the Chinese after she allegedly assaulted a
journalist in Hong Kong.
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