Hotel employee loses baby after Grace’s hotel rampage – report 

According to several reports, there is a slim chance Mugabe may be charged with assaulting Gabriella Engels, 20, following strong lobbying from the Zimbabwean government and other countries in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region for President Robert Mugabe’s wife to be granted diplomatic immunity.

The Sunday Times reports that a waitress suffered a miscarriage after she was “pushed” by Robert Mugabe Jnr as he fled his mother’s violent attack at the Capital 20 West hotel on that fateful night.

The woman reportedly fell to the ground and was rushed to hospital, where she later lost her baby.

The incident was confirmed to the paper by a hotel employee, while another hotel staff member said the waitress had been delivering food when she got caught in the brawl. The staff member claimed there was a meeting between Mugabe’s people and the hotel’s human resources on Tuesday regarding the incident.

Garnet Basson, who is the chief operating officer at The Capital Hotel Group, did not confirm or deny the incident.

“We are handling this thing internally. Please respect that. We will decide on how to deal with this matter going forward. It’s the staff member’s privacy that we must respect.

“I can assure you that we are doing everything in all aspects to ensure that we follow the necessary steps,” Basson was quoted as saying.

Mugabe is also accused of assaulting a manager at the hotel.

‘Grace to be granted immunity’

Highly placed government sources told Sunday Times Mugabe was likely to be granted diplomatic immunity from prosecution after high-level discussions were held between several government departments.

The decision was prompted by political pressure on South Africa on the sidelines of SADC’s 37th summit in Pretoria, which ends today. They apparently argued for the need to protect political stability and trade relations in the SADC region.

The dominant view from the departments of international relations, justice and police, the Presidency and the State Security Agency is said to favour Mugabe being granted immunity.

According to another report by City Press, Zimbabwe’s first couple was given assurances by senior government officials that she would not be charged over the assault.

The paper reports that a security guard at the Capital 20 West hotel claimed that the first lady was called to intervene after a disagreement broke out between Engels and the Mugabe brothers.

She is said to have entered the room and found Engels sitting in the lounge with Robert Jnr, surrounded by bottles of alcohol.

Mugabe then took “the extension cord and started to beat everyone, including her eldest son, who was sitting with the three girls. But the other girls managed to flee, while Engels sustained the cut on her forehead,” he alleged.

Engels has denied that she knew the Mugabe brothers and said she met them on the day of the assault.

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