Is SA a haven for criminals?

OUR COUNTRY is a haven for criminals. They thrive in our free country as if it’s their democratic right to do so.

We have a large local criminal population whose ranks are swelled by foreign criminal elements. Nigerian drug lords, bogus doctors, miracle healers who can cure anything, greedy men of the cloth who live on the gullible masses, paedophiles, human traffickers, rhino horn smugglers and corrupt politicians and business leaders – we have them all. It’s such a free, wonderful country in which to do crime.

And so we have Zimbabwe’s First Lady, Grace Mugabe, committing a crime on South African soil and getting away with it.

She allegedly assaulted a model with an extension cord in Sandton last Sunday and was supposed to have handed herself over to the police on Monday.

But she did not and no warrant of arrest was issued. It’s a simple, straightforward assault case but the police have been dragging their feet.

How could they arrest her? She’s a VIP, Zimbabwe’s First Lady, the wife of President Robert Mugabe, respected and revered throughout Africa.

Throwing her in prison would cause a diplomatic crisis and incur the wrath of Mugabe, an African brother. But that’s where she belongs.

Grace Mugabe is no lady with grace and charm but the arrogant, selfish wife of a ruthless dictator who has brought ruin and misery to Zimbabwe and its people.

Big or small, the law should apply equally to all. President Jacob Zuma has yet to be charged for 783 cases of corruption, fraud and money laundering.

Sudan’s President Omar al Bashir, wanted by the ICC for war crimes, was allowed to slip out of the country despite a warrant of arrest issued by the court.

Now Grace Mugabe invokes diplomatic immunity and will, in all probability, also not be brought to justice.

Like Bashir, she has apparently skipped the country under the nose of the authorities.

The police are ruthless in Zimbabwe, but ours treat her with kid gloves because she’s Mugabe’s wife.

Grace Mugabe is a disgrace and should have been thrown straight into prison; otherwise it just makes a mockery of our justice system. T MARKANDAN

Silverglen