Grace Mugabe appeared in court in South Africa
ZIMBABWE - Zimbabwe’s first lady, Grace Mugabe, appeared in court in South Africa yesterday after handing herself in to police over allegations that she assaulted a woman in a Johannesburg hotel.
Mugabe, 52, allegedly attacked Gabriella Engels, 20, with an extension cord, wounding her forehead and the back of her head. Mugabe went to a police station yesterday, Agence France-Presse reported. According to the local eNCA TV channel. The police minister Fikile Mbalula said Mugabe would appear at Wynberg magistrates court. “She’s not under arrest because she co-operated and handed herself over to the police,” he said. Earlier, Mbalula told the local Eyewitness News agency: “If she came here with her diplomatic passport, she’ll have diplomatic immunity. This doesn’t mean she cannot be arrested.” A Zimbabwean intelligence source said Mugabe was travelling on a normal passport. “She was here on business,” the source told Reuters. Pictures on social media appear to show Engels bleeding in Capital 20 West hotel in the upmarket district of Sandton. Mugabe allegedly arrived with bodyguards at the hotel on Sunday and accused Engels of living with her sons, Robert and Chatunga, both in their 20s, who are based in the city. “We were chilling in a hotel room, and [the sons] were in the room next door. She came in and started hitting us,” Engels, a model, was quoted as saying by the TimesLIVE website. “The front of my forehead is busted open. I’m a model and I make my money based on my looks.” (Theguardian.com)