Avatar photo

By Citizen Reporter

Journalist


Sorry Mbalula, Grace Mugabe is not even in SA

The Zimbabwean First Lady was spotted in her motorcade heading back from the airport in Harare.


Minister of Police Fikile Mbalula announced on Tuesday morning that Zimbabwe’s First Lady, Grace Mugabe, had handed herself over to the police after an alleged altercation with a 20-year-old model in Sandton earlier this week.

It has been reported that the young woman, Gabriella Engels, wants Mugabe to be jailed for her alleged actions.

However, the police have now said Mugabe’s whereabouts were “not known” on Tuesday, according to national police spokesman Vishnu Naidoo.

Mbalula had earlier said the Benoni-born Mugabe, 52, had handed herself over.

“The negotiations over the suspect handing herself over have not concluded and our investigations have not finalised,” Naidoo, however, confirmed on Tuesday afternoon.

Mbalula had earlier on Tuesday said Mugabe was “not under arrest, because she cooperated and handed herself over to the police. That is cooperation, more than any necessity to go and arrest a person.”

She was set to appear in court at 1pm today. However, that did not happen.

The police told journalists “more negotiations” were now under way for “the suspect” to hand herself over while the continued to conduct investigations.

It was reported that Mugabe’s motorcade was spotted on its way back from the airport in Harare.

Journalist Simon Allison wrote that there was no way she was going to “hang around to clean up her mess”.

Mugabe’s alleged victim, who identified herself only as Gah-bee on Twitter, was apparently found in the company of Mugabe’s two sons — Robert Jnr, 25, and Chatunga Bellarmine, 21 — at a Sandton hotel, before she was allegedly attacked. The Mugabe boys were reportedly unsteady on their feet after a long party.

Gah-bee posted pictures showing a deep gash on her forehead. The woman alleged the wife of President Robert Mugabe attacked her in the presence of numerous bodyguards.

Speaking outside court, ZCP general secretary Ngqabutho Nicholas Mabhena said they were grateful to South African authorities for upholding the rule of law because Mugabe would have gotten off scot-free if the incident had happened in Zimbabwe.

They spoke too soon, however.

Read more on these topics

assault Grace Mugabe

For more news your way

Download our app and read this and other great stories on the move. Available for Android and iOS.

For more news your way

Download The Citizen App for IOS and Android