One of the sons of former Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe
has allegedly been pressurising Gabriella Engels, the Johannesburg model who
filed assault charges against Grace Mugabe, to drop the charges against his
mother.
Civil rights group AfriForum represents Engels in the high
profile case.
"We've had a complaint, we were contacted by Gabriella
Engels informing us that one of Mrs Mugabe's sons in South Africa contacted
her, and tried to convince her not to go ahead with the case. We have informed
the police, that they should look at this because it is interference with the
judicial process and we believe that is very unfortunate," AfriForum's CEO
Kallie Kriel told journalists in Pretoria.
"That case, we believe will be going ahead [in
courts]."
In July, the South Gauteng High Court declared the South
African government's decision to grant Grace Mugabe diplomatic immunity
unconstitutional and set it aside.
Mugabe allegedly assaulted model Gabriella Engels at a
hotel in August last year but has claimed that she acted in self-defence.
At the time, Robert Mugabe was still president of Zimbabwe,
and his wife was allowed to leave the country without being prosecuted.
Afriforum and South Africa's official opposition, the
Democratic Alliance challenged the government's decision in court.
In May, South Africa's department of international
relations and cooperation argued in court that it did not grant Mugabe
diplomatic immunity, but rather recognised it was applicable in terms of international
law.
Judge Bashier Valley also ruled that the government
department should pay the costs of the case.
On Thursday, AfriForum said it has written to the South
African Police Service, seeking an update on the investigations into the August
2017 incident.
"We have written to the police to enquire how that
investigation against Grace Mugabe is proceeding at the moment, and we await
feedback from them. We still assist the Engels family," said Kriel.
African News Agency (ANA)
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