South Africa plans to grant diplomatic immunity to
Zimbabwe’s first lady, Grace Mugabe, after she was accused of assaulting a
model at a hotel in Johannesburg, government sources have said.
Mugabe is accused of attacking Gabriella Engels, 20, with
an electrical extension cord after Engels went to see the Mugabes’ sons Robert
and Chatunga at the Capital 20 West hotel in Johannesburg’s upmarket Sandton
district.
South African police have put border posts on “red alert”
to prevent Mugabe fleeing and said she will not receive special treatment, but
a source in Pretoria, the country’s administrative capital, told Reuters there
was “no way” the 52-year-old would be arrested.
It is expected that a grant of diplomatic immunity would be
challenged in court. It is not clear whether Mugabe entered South Africa on a
personal or diplomatic passport.
Afriforum, a South African rights group, which is advising
Engels, said it would be a “disgrace” to grant diplomatic immunity, which would
allow Mugabe to return to Harare.
“The government has two responsibilities: one, to protect
its own citizens and two, to act according to the law. And the granting of
diplomatic immunity would transgress the law,” the chief executive of
Afriforum, Kallie Kriel, said.
Pictures posted on social media appeared to show a cut to
Engels’ forehead and she claimed to have more injuries on the back of her head.
Engels has said she “did not lift a finger on the first lady”.
“We were chilling in a hotel room, and [the sons] were in
the room next door. She came in and started hitting us. She flipped and just
kept beating me with the plug, over and over,” Engels told local media.
guardian
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