‘ Gucci Grace’: The woman who brought down Mugabe
THE DOWNFALL of Zimbabwe’s hated dictator Robert Mugabe sent shockwaves around the world last week when he was finally forced to resign after 37 years in power.
Ailing Mugabe, now 93, was as notorious for his economic destruction of the ‘ breadbasket of Africa’ as for his devotion to his second – much younger – wife, Grace. And it was this obsession with ‘Gucci Grace’ – as she became known thanks to her excessive spending while so many were in poverty – that appears to have triggered his political death.
For Gucci Grace, a woman who rose from government typist to First Lady, was as desperate for power as her husband. And her plot to become Zimbabwe’s first female dictator was the catalyst to this extraordinary coup.
It was barely three weeks ago that Mugabe fired Emmerson Mnangagwa, known as The Crocodile, his second-incommand and Grace’s main rival, in
a move that infuriated his enemies.
As one unnamed opponent of Mrs Mugabe told Grazia last week, ‘ The President had all this power. He had power over the country, over the military, over the population, over much of Africa. But he never had any power over Grace. Perhaps he is now too old to see how she has cost him everything.’
Grace Marufu was a 20-year-old secretary when she first caught Robert Mugabe’s eye in the late 1980s. Fresh from the independence struggle, Zimbabwe’s then prime minister, shortly to become president, was pledging to instil racial reconciliation in the new Zimbabwe – and was still married to first wife Sally, who was dying from cancer.
Described as ‘very shy and very pretty’, the married mother-of-one captured Mugabe’s attention and soon she was pregnant with his child, despite their 41-year age difference and the fact that Sally was still alive. Grace later said of the courtship, ‘He came to me and started asking about my family. I looked at him as a father figure. I did not think he would at all look at me and say: “I like that girl.” I least expected that.’
By 1996 the ambitious Grace was First Lady, marrying Mugabe in a lavish Catholic ceremony after Sally died. Initially, she was content to limit her role to that of glamorous consort. But she quickly became known for her love of shopping, once spending £75,000 during a spree in Paris. She has a particular weakness for shoes by Salvatore Ferragamo, once explaining why she had to buy 62 pairs on a single shopping trip with the simple statement that they were ‘the best fit for my narrow feet’. This outrageous outlay was set against the backdrop of a country in deep economic crisis, failing currency and record unemployment – and accusations of government corruption. Yet Grace claimed to be a successful businesswoman and property magnate in her own right, running a dairy farm, collecting a PHD and amassing enemies along the way.
More recently, she developed a reputation for aggression, earning another unflattering nickname: Disgrace. In 2009, a British photographer alleged she had punched him in the face with a diamondencrusted fist. In August, she was accused of assaulting a South African model with the plug at the end of an extension cord.
It was in 2014 that she began to emerge as a potential successor to her husband. She became head of the ruling party’s women’s league, which gave her a seat on its decision-making body, the politburo. She won the support of Zanu PF’S Youth League and formed a faction called Generation 40 (G40), a group of younger leaders, but was dogged by rumours of multiple infidelities with the G40 leaders, who were often dubbed ‘the First Boyfriends’. The wider population, incensed by stories about her corruption and extravagant spending, hated her.
In the months leading up to her husband’s political demise, she went on an unprecedented spending spree, snapping up mansions, gems and luxury cars – a move that may have been triggered by rumours that the Mugabes’ time in power might soon be over. She bought 120 acres of prime land in the capital Harare and built a string of private schools, which will carry her name for posterity.
She flew to Johannesburg to secure a sprawling mansion called The White Lodge, complete with koi pond, sweeping drive and summer house, in Sandhurst, South Africa’s most exclusive suburb. While there, she is said to have paid £250,000 cash for a brand new black Rolls-royce Ghost Series II, finished with a white interior, which still remains parked discreetly, awaiting collection, in the showroom’s underground car park.
Grace’s future is uncertain. Hidden from view since the political earthquake that unseated her husband, it’s thought she and Mugabe will remain in Zimbabwe, although it’s unclear whether they will be allowed to retain control of all their assets, believed to be the largest land and real estate portfolio owned by anyone in the history of the country.
For the Zimbabweans hoping that last week’s events will herald real democracy for their country, there’s tremendous joy and relief that the political ambitions of their ‘First Shopper’ have failed so spectacularly.
mugabe had all this power. but he never had any power over grace