Ticking time bomb

GRACE Mugabe claims that Johannesburg model Gabriella Engels tried to stab her in a Sandton hotel last month. Zimbabwe’s first lady claimed Engels rushed at her in an “unhinged and intoxicated” state. Engels, of course, claims the polar opposite – that Mugabe laid into her with an electric extension cable.

The problem is that Mugabe’s deposition, unreported upon until now, was made four days after the alleged assault and two days before she left South Africa on a hasty and retrospective award of diplomatic immunity.

There’s no telling what the truth actually is, because there is little to no chance of Mugabe ever being formally charged for assaulting the model and having her day in court.

Had there been any chance of this, then her version could have been tested against that of Engels, with the prosecution bidding to prove beyond reasonable doubt that Zimbabwe’s first lady had viciously assaulted a South African citizen with a weapon with the intent to cause grievous bodily harm. All this is moot now. By removing herself from a court of law, she has left herself open to the much harsher, and more judgmental, court of public opinion.

By all accounts, the early verdict is neither kind nor forgiving, with social media pundits pointing to the ludicrous nature of any such bid, given that Mugabe is perennially surrounded by armed bodyguards.

The biggest losers remain the truth and our tattered reputation as a once proud standard-bearer for human rights. All that the disgraceful Mugabe saga shows us is that, much like the Guptas landing a wedding party at a national key point or Omar al-Bashir being assisted to avoid international justice, South Africa has become a society of powerful elites and impotent masses.

This is not just a tragic indictment, it’s a ticking time bomb.