Grace Mugabe accused of beating up Joburg woman with extension cord

Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe’s wife‚ Grace, has been accused by a Johannesburg woman of assaulting her with an extension cord at a Sandton hotel at the weekend.

Model Gabriella Engels, 20, alleges the assault occurred at about 9pm on Sunday night when Grace paid a visit to the Zimbabwean president’s two sons, Robert Jnr, 25, and Chatunga, 21, TimesLIVE reports.

“We were chilling in a hotel room‚ and they were in the room next door. She came in and started hitting us. The front of my forehead is busted open,” Engels told the news website.

She said the Zimbabwean first lady beat her up along with two of her friends with the extension cord‚ while the two sons apparently ran away and her bodyguards looked on as they were assaulted.

Engels said she suffered gashes to her forehead and scalp.

According to an IOL report, Grace allegedly found Mugabe’s sons unsteady on their feet after a long party. They are supposed to be studying in Johannesburg, but regularly go to Taboo nightclub in Sandton, where sources said they spent a “great deal” of money on champagne.

The sons were “evicted” last month from a luxury Sandton apartment, according to Zimbabwe media, at The Regent apartment hotel in Morningside after supposed unacceptable behaviour in a “dispute over women”.

Engels told TimesLIVE she went to the nearest police station on Sunday night, but she was sent away by a police officer on duty, who told her to first seek medical attention. Her mother, Debbie‚ said they would open an assault case on Monday.

“When she got home [on Sunday], I was already sleeping. She was in so much shock‚ she couldn’t tell me what happened.

“I rushed her to the hospital to get stitches, and when she eventually calmed down‚ she told me she was assaulted by Mugabe’s wife,” Debbie said.

It has been reported in Zimbabwean media Grace did not attend a youth rally held by her husband in Gwanda, southern Zimbabwe, on Saturday.

Sources in Harare claimed she stayed a night in the capital and then returned to attend to her sons in Johannesburg.

The CEO of The Capital hotel group – where the alleged assault took place – Garnet Basson confirmed to TimesLIVE there was an incident that prompted management to ask guests to leave the hotel.

“What happened in the hotel room‚ I don’t have a comment on … I can’t disclose the name. We did have guests removed from the premises due to a scenario where we thought it was not good for them to stay there.

“It was almost a forceful exit‚ but it wasn’t. It was a decent exit after about a half an hour of discussions,” Basson was quoted as saying.

Engels has been tweeting about the incident:

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