Embassy stops backing Grace
ENGELS ‘ASSAULT’: TOP ZIM DIPLOMAT CITES THREATS
Lawyer assisting model says allegations may be bid to ‘taint’ legal process.
The Zimbabwe embassy is withdrawing from the legal process started by model Gabriella Engels aimed at setting aside the diplomatic immunity granted to Zimbabwe’s first lady Grace Mugabe for the alleged “assault” on Engels.
Engels, assisted by AfriForum, applied to the High Court in Pretoria for an order allowing them to serve legal papers on Mugabe in a bid to have the diplomatic immunity granted to her by the South African government set aside so criminal and civil action can proceed against her.
The Zimbabwean embassy tried to intervene, resulting in Acting Judge Harshila Kooevertjie yesterday postponing the matter for the embassy to file papers setting out if it had a mandate to represent Mugabe, and on what basis it had the right to intervene.
Minutes after she granted the order, the Zimbabwean embassy’s legal representative, Simba Chitando, said although he still believed their intervention was justified, the Zimbabwean consul-general had instructed him to no longer participate in the proceedings. He said the consul-general had personally seen “threats made against our representative from the Zimbabwean embassy”.
“The conduct of various individuals in this matter has made the embassy’s further involvement undesirable,” he said.
Engels’ attorney, Willie Spies, said he believed the embassy’s involvement was aimed at frustrating the process and delaying justice. Their withdrawal made the process easier and AfriForum would soon proceed with the application for substituted service on an unopposed basis.
Chitando’s allegation of threats was a surprise and Spies believed it was an effort to taint the process to put the Zimbabweans in a position to attack it later. But if the allegations were true, they should be investigated. He would like to see if criminal charges were laid because so far, the only criminal charges were those laid by Engels against Mugabe, he added. “The issue now is not taking on Grace Mugabe. It’s to ensure justice is served and matters are brought before the court and argued before court and not by politicians in positions of power,” he said.
Engels laid an assault charge against Mugabe, alleging she was attacked with an extension cord when Mugabe found her with her two sons in a hotel room. –
Chitando’s allegation of threats was a surprise.