![\"Gabriella](\"https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/624\/cpsprodpb\/10E7A\/production\/_97424296_mediaitem97424295.jpg\")
Gabriella Engels alleges that she was assaulted by Grace Mugabe<\/span><\/figure>\nOn Wednesday, South Africa’s police ministry said Zimbabwe’s government had sought diplomatic immunity for Mrs Mugabe.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, South African lawyer Gerrie Nel, who successfully prosecuted Paralympic athlete Oscar Pistorius, is supporting the woman making the allegation, Gabriella Engels.<\/p>\n
Mr Nel is now working with the Afriforum group, which mainly lobbies for the rights of Afrikaners in South Africa.<\/p>\n
Afriforum said if the police failed to act in the case then it would take up a private prosecution.<\/p>\n
It also said that it would fight any move to grant Mrs Mugabe diplomatic immunity.<\/p>\n
South Africa’s government risks a public backlash if it lets Mrs Mugabe go scot-free.<\/p>\n
This happened in 2015, when it failed to execute an international arrest warrant for Sudan’s President Omar al-Bashir who was wanted by the International Criminal Court.<\/p>\n
The government argued that he qualified for diplomatic immunity, but the country’s judges disagreed. The government was then strongly criticised for undermining the rule of law.<\/p>\n
It seems that ministers want to avoid a similar backlash and are therefore insisting that Mrs Mugabe must appear in court.<\/p>\n
But by taking such an approach it risks a diplomatic row with Zimbabwe’s government – a staunch ally whom it has resolutely defended over the years, despite international criticism of President Mugabe’s human rights record.<\/p>\n
So the two governments, including Mr Mugabe and his South African counterpart, Jacob Zuma, are bound to be in talks to resolve the crisis over the first lady.<\/p>\n
One option being mentioned in the South African media is that Mrs Mugabe should plead guilty during a short court appearance, and pay a fine.<\/p>\n
But it is unclear whether Mr and Mrs Mugabe – known for their uncompromising nature – will agree to this, especially after Zimbabwe’s ruling Zanu-PF party said in a tweet on Tuesday that the first lady had been “attacked”, contradicting her accuser’s version of events.<\/p>\n
–<\/p>\n
Source: BBC<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
South African police have issued a “red alert” at the country’s borders for Zimbabwe’s First Lady Grace Mugabe, the police minister has said. She is accused of hitting a 20-year-old woman over the head with an extension cord in a hotel room near Johannesburg. Police expected Mrs Mugabe, 52, to turn herself in on Tuesday, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[107],"tags":[3],"yoast_head":"\n