 |
| Grace Mugabe (l) and her accuser |
There was no immediate public comment on the case from
Grace, 52, a possible successor to her husband President Robert Mugabe, 93, who
has ruled Zimbabwe since 1980.
However, Zimbabwe government sources confirmed she had
returned home.
“Yes, she is back in the country.
“We don’t know where this issue of assault charges is coming
from,” said a senior government official, who declined to be named because they
were not authorised to speak to the press.
A second official also confirmed that Grace had returned,
saying “she is around now” and accused the media of a plot to tarnish the first
family’s name.
Earlier, South African police had been negotiating with
Grace’s lawyers to get her to turn her in to face charges of assault, a senior
police source said.
Twenty-year-old Gabriella Engels told South African media
Grace had attacked her after the model had gone to see the Mugabes’ sons Robert
and Chatunga at a hotel in Johannesburg’s upmarket Sandton district on Sunday.
Confusion surrounded the case on Tuesday. South African
police minister Fikile Mbalula had earlier in the day said that Grace had
already handed herself in to police and would appear in court shortly.
However, in the afternoon, the magistrates’ court where
Grace had been expected to be formally charged closed for the day without her
appearing.
The police source said Grace had earlier agreed to hand
herself over at 10 a.m. local time but failed to do so. (Reuters/NAN)
0 comments:
Post a Comment