Zimbabwe’s long time ruler Robert Mugabe, arrived in South Africa on Wednesday night to save his wife, Grace who faces arrest for assaulting a young model.
The 93-year-old leader is expected in Pretoria to attend the Southern African Development Community SADC) but changed plans to travel early to intervene in his wife’s impending arrest.
Mugabe has invoked diplomatic immunity to save his wife from arrest for assaulting Gabriella Engels who she found in the company of her troubling sons Robert Jr and Chatunga Bellarmine Mugabe at an upmarket Sandton hotel.
“Subsequently, the government of Zimbabwe has dispatched a diplomatic note verbale to the Department of International Relations and Cooperation invoking said diplomatic cover,” a statement from the South African Police Services (SAPS) reads.
Mugabe’s wife was expected to appear at Randburg Magistrates Court on Monday, but “she elected to change her mind” after Zimbabwe authorities invoked diplomatic cover.
Opposition parties in Zimbabwe on Wednesday called on the SAPS to arrest Grace ‘without fear or favour”.
“We appeal to the South African law authorities to ensure that the law is enforced without fear or favour. No one is above the law and we do not condone any form of violence no matter who has committed it,” said Evelyn Masaiti the People’s Democratic Party Women’s Assembly chairperson.
Zapu spokesperson Iphithule Maphosa added: “South African authorities must act to make sure Gabriella Engels gets full justice, in our collective quest to promote the protection of our women and girl children.
“We take this opportunity to raise alarm to the world so that the true nature of the dictatorship in Zimbabwe can be unmasked. The same way Grace behaved and treated the weak and ordinary in South Africa is the same way her husband Robert has behaved over poor Zimbabweans since 1980.”
