Police don’t know where #GraceMugabe is – AS IT HAPPENED | News24

Grace Mugabe: Zimbabwe’s fiercely loyal first lady

Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe’s wife was once dismissed as a lightweight shopping addict with no political interests, but Grace Mugabe has recently emerged as a potential challenger for power.

Dubbed “Gucci Grace”, “The First Shopper”, or even “DisGrace”, Zimbabwean First Lady Grace Mugabe is known to have a short temper, reports AFP.

Here is some interesting information about her:

– She told crowds in 2015 that she would put her husband in a wheelchair if necessary so he could run for re-election.

– She has often been accused of extravagant spending on luxury clothes and international travel

– Born on July 23, 1965, in South Africa, Grace has three children with Mugabe, 41 years her senior, as well as a son from her first marriage.

– She has a short temper: In 2009, she punched a British photographer in Hong Kong for taking pictures of her at a luxury hotel.

– Grace was also awarded a doctorate by the University of Zimbabwe, where her husband is chancellor, reportedly just three months after enrolling.

Grace Mugabe’s whereabouts unknown over assault case

Zimbabwean first lady Grace Mugabe’s whereabouts were not known, a South African police spokesperson said, correcting the police minister who earlier claimed that she had handed herself in to police.

Mugabe, 52, is accused of beating Gabriella Engels, 20, on Sunday evening with an electrical extension cord, leaving her with injuries on her forehead and the back of her head.

Mugabe had been expected in court Tuesday after she allegedly used an extension cord to assault a model who was at a Johannesburg hotel with her two sons.

“The negotiations over the suspect handing herself over have not concluded and our investigations have not finalised,” Vishnu Naidoo told AFP.

“The minister learned later that it just didn’t materalise as it was supposed to.

“We have identified a suspect but she hasn’t handed herself over yet. We do not know her whereabouts at this stage.”

The alleged attack threatened to spark a major diplomatic incident between the two neighbouring countries, which have strong political and economic ties.

Legal experts say the assault case against Zimbabwe’s first lady, Grace Mugabe, should be handled like any other criminal case.

“Her case will be treated like any other case,” said constitutional law expert Shadrack Gutto.

He said if the first lady was travelling with her husband, President Robert Mugabe, then there would be a possibility of diplomatic immunity.

Diplomatic immunity for Grace Mugabe?

What is diplomatic immunity and under which circumstances does it apply to foreign citizens visiting or working in South Africa?

UPDATE: We call Grace Mugabe Dr Stop It – Mabhena

The Zimbabwe Communist Party in Gauteng is outside the Randburg Magistrate’s Court where First Lady of Zimbabwe Grace Mugabe is expected to appear.

Mugabe is accused of allegedly beating a model with an extension cord in Sandton.

The woman, 20-year-old Gabriella Engels, said the incident happened during a visit with Mugabe’s two sons Robert and Chatunga at the Capital 20 West Hotel.

“When Grace entered I had no idea who she was. She walked in with an extension cord and just started beating me with it,” Engels told News24 over the phone on Monday.

Outside the court, general secretary of the Zimbabwe Communist Party in Gauteng, Ngqabutho Nicholas Mabhena, was speaking to the media.

Mabhena accused Mugabe of being a violent person.

“She has a record of assualting individuals. We think she has a problem with managing her anger. We recommend that she goes for counselling so that she is able to manage her anger.”

He said the party is not “surprised at all” over the alleged assault incident. “We call her Dr Stop It.”

“I can’t just go to Zimbabwe and beat up people there and the matter will disappear,” Police Minister Fikile Mbalula said when he announced that Grace Mugabe will appear in court.

Watch the full clip

The Zimbabwe Communist Party in Gauteng is also at the Randburg Magistrate’s Court.

General secretary Ngqabutho Nicholas Mabhena has accused Zanu-FP of “diverting” from the “ideals of the liberation struggle” in Zimbabwe.

“Today, we don’t have freedom in Zimbabwe.”

In other news: Grace Mugabe for president?

Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe’s wife once said the 93-year-old leader should run “as a corpse” in the 2018 elections if he dies before the vote.

Now politically ambitious Grace Mugabe is positioning herself as a possible successor, saying one of the ruling party’s two vice presidents should be a woman.

Sleepless nights for Grace Mugabe

Grace recently admitted that her two sons – Robert Junior and Chatunga Bellarmine – had become wild and were giving her “sleepless nights”, as they had taken to beer binges and drugs.

This was after the two boys were evicted from a luxury apartments block in Johannesburg’s affluent Sandton area because of their “unacceptable behaviour”.

‘Mother of the nation’

Zimbabwean war veterans have reportedly challenged the First Lady Grace Mugabe, who claims to be the “mother of the nation” to show that she is a “competent mom” by “disciplining her unruly sons”.

“She can’t be a mother to 14 million Zimbabweans when she is failing to [control] just two sons,” national war veterans’ secretary general Victor Matemadanda was quoted as saying by New Zimbabwe.com.

I had no idea who Grace Mugabe was

“When Grace entered I had no idea who she was. She walked in with an extension cord and just started beating me with it,” Gabriella Engels told News24.

Image: A picture taken on Sunday after Engels was alleged assaulted. (Supplied)