A sordid affair

International Relations Minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane is facing tough questions from lobby group AfriForum, which has gone to court in a bid to set aside her decision to grant Grace Mugabe diplomatic immunity. In a letter to parliament this week, the minister cited South Africa’s relations with its neighbours as a reason for granting the immunity to Grace, the Benoni-born wife of Zimbabwean despot Robert Mugabe. Grace left a trail of tears and injury in her wake when she apparently attacked a local model, Gabriella Engels, with an electrical extension cord in an altercation that had something to do with the Mugabe sons. They live the high life in Sandton while the majority of their fellow citizens are left to fend for themselves in a desperate country.