Mugabe wife accused of buying £4m South African bolt-hole
GRACE MUGABE has spent millions on properties in South Africa in apparent preparation for a bolt-hole amid rising tensions about who will succeed her husband, Robert Mugabe, as president of Zimbabwe.
Documents seen by The Daily Telegraph show that Mrs Mugabe, who is currently facing allegations that she beat up a woman in Johannesburg, recently spent about £4million on a mansion in one of South Africa’s richest suburbs.
Property advertisements for the opulent four-bedroom home said it had “rolling lawns, a summer house, koi pond and six reception rooms.”
At 11,061 sq yd, it is nearly double the size of most other properties in an exclusive area of Johannesburg, which is home to some of South Africa’s wealthiest families and tycoons from oil-rich parts of Africa, such as Angola and Nigeria.
Real estate industry sources said Mrs Mugabe was also believed to be interested in another property nearby valued at about £5million.
It is not clear yet how Mrs Mugabe paid for the property, which is registered in a so-called “shelf ” company.
It was also unclear last night whether the payment was made in cash or through the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe using foreign currency.
Either method would be controversial as Zimbabwe is critically short of foreign currency for imports and struggles to buy drugs for state hospitals.
No one is allowed to leave Zimbabwe with more than £1,800 in cash and many imported goods, services and machinery for mining and industry are in critically short supply.
Robert Mugabe is 93 and although he has vowed to run for election again next year, Zimbabwe’s ruling Zanu PF party is bitterly divided about the “succession issue”.
Mrs Mugabe, 52, is a significant player in Zimbabwe’s rough political arena and was at one point tipped as a potential heir to her frail husband.
But she is widely feared and disliked, particularly in the capital, and many analysts believe her fortunes could change rapidly without Mr Mugabe, who has ruled the country since 1980.
Mrs Mugabe has spent considerable time in South Africa since she and her family left their rented Dubai home earlier this year.
Her sons, Robert Jnr, 25, and Bellarmine Chatunga, 21, have become a fixture on the Johannesburg nightlife scene and recently had to leave the flat they rented after reports of a drunken brawl which left a security guard injured.
They have rented two flats in a plush hotel complex nearby.
Gabriella Engels, 20, this week filed charges against Mrs Mugabe for allegedly beating her at the hotel during a party there on Sunday night.
Police yesterday said Mrs Mugabe had broken an agreement to present herself at a police station the previous day and that she was seeking to invoke diplomatic immunity over the allegation.
“She had failed to present herself as arranged,” the South African police service said in a statement yesterday evening.
Mrs Mugabe has not been seen in public since the alleged incident on Sunday night.
Zimbabwean guards were on duty outside her rented mansion earlier this week, and there is a permanent van with security personnel parked opposite.
Mrs Mugabe is expected to stay in South Africa to attend a regional summit alongside her husband in Pretoria this weekend.
Zimbabwe’s central bank had not responded to emailed questions about payment of Mrs Mugabe’s properties in South Africa last night.