Image copyright Reuters Image caption Grace Mugabe is the second wife of Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe

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, but she failed to show up.

The first lady's whereabouts are not known but she is believed to still be in South Africa.

Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe is now also in the country ahead of a southern African heads of state meeting due to start on Friday.

Mrs Mugabe has not commented on the allegation.

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Police Minister Fikile Mbalula said: "We, in terms of South African police, [have] already put tabs on the borders in relation to her leaving the country, so there is no question about that.

"So tabs have been put, a red alert has been put, so she is not somebody who has been running away."

Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Model Gabriella Engels: Grace Mugabe "beat the hell out of me"

On Wednesday, South Africa's police ministry said Zimbabwe's government had sought diplomatic immunity for Mrs Mugabe.

Meanwhile, South African lawyer Gerrie Nel, who successfully prosecuted Paralympic athlete Oscar Pistorius, is supporting the woman making the allegation, Gabriella Engels.

Mr Nel is now working with the Afriforum group, which mainly lobbies for the rights of Afrikaners in South Africa.

Image copyright Reuters Image caption Gerrie Nel will look after Ms Engels' legal interests

Afriforum said if the police failed to act in the case then it would take up a private prosecution.

It also said that it would fight any move to grant Mrs Mugabe diplomatic immunity.

'She cornered me'

Ms Engels told the BBC that she was attacked by Mrs Mugabe who believed she knew the whereabouts of her son, Bellarmine.

"We kept telling her 'we do not know where he is... we haven't seen him for the night'... She cornered me… and started beating the hell out of me.

"That's when she hit me with the plug and the extension cord. And I just remember being curled down on the floor with blood rushing down my face and down my neck.

"She hit us with so much hate."

Ms Engels has now laid an assault charge and added that she wants Grace Mugabe to "go to jail".

South Africa's diplomatic dilemma

Farouk Chothia, BBC Africa

South Africa's government risks a public backlash if it lets Mrs Mugabe go scot-free.

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.

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.

It seems that ministers want to avoid a similar backlash and are therefore insisting that Mrs Mugabe must appear in court.

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.

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.

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.

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.</s>The South African Police Service has been keeping tabs on Zimbabwe’s First Lady, Grace Mugabe, who is accused of assaulting a young woman in Johannesburg, to ensure that she doesn’t leave the country, Police Minister Fikile Mbalula said on Thursday.

Mbalula said there was no way President Robert Mugabe’s wife could leave South Africa before clearing her name in the matter.

“I can say to you, the matter is receiving our attention and we are liaising with all involved in the matter of the suspect [Grace Mugabe] who was supposed to appear in court but did not. In this particular instance, we as the SAPS have already put tabs in the borders in relation to her leaving the country so there is no question about that. The red alert has been put,” Mbalula told reporters in Pretoria.

“She is not somebody who has been running away, from what she said. In fact she has her own version of the events … it’s not up to us to engage with that. It is for our investigators who have the case and to engage with her to come and answer in relation to this matter. It is our commitment.”

Mbalula said the matter of Mrs Mugabe was different from that of “somebody else” because she had sought to invoke diplomatic immunity.

“If it was somebody else, in relation with being a suspect … we could have long moved and raided on her in terms of the issues,” said Mbalula.

He commended the police for being in control of the case since the allegations of assault emerged against Grace Mugabe.

“My job as a minister is to ensure that our citizens are protected without fear or favour, and that is what I must enforce that our police execute. But equally, I don’t want them to bungle and to bring things into disrepute in the country. Anybody who comes to South Africa must know that we are a constitutional state, and we are a law state. Nothing will just be left,” said Mbalula.

He said the question of Grace Mugabe’s immunity was currently being attended to before the police moved in.

“It has come to our attention that it [the case of Grace Mugabe] might have not only immunity but diplomatic implications. From the perspective of the police we have done what we could. The matter is with the police who are handling the matter in relation to the case that has been opened. A case has long been opened. It is not just a case of an ordinary person. It has all those implications that must be attended to,” said Mbalula.

Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe arrived in Pretoria last night for the 37th SADC Heads of State and Government Summit, amid the controversy surrounding his wife Grace.

He reportedly arrived earlier than scheduled so he could intervene in his wife’s matter.

Twenty-year-old model Gabriella Engels has accused Grace Mugabe of assaulting her while she was visiting Mugabe’s sons in a hotel room in an upscale Johannesburg suburb. The woman claims the first lady’s bodyguards stood by and watched as Mugabe attacked her.

Engels posted several photos on social media showing a gash in her forehead, which she said was a result of the alleged assault.</s>The wife of Zimbabwe's president has been accused of assaulting a young woman at a hotel in South Africa.

It was not immediately clear where Grace Mugabe was.

Minister of police Fikile Mbalula said in a video posted by local broadcaster eNCA that she had handed herself over to police.

But a police spokesman, Vishnu Naidoo, later said no arrest had been made and police were talking with the suspect's lawyers. He would not name the suspect.

The case draws yet more attention to the increasingly outspoken wife of the world's oldest head of state, 93-year-old President Robert Mugabe.

Last month she challenged her husband publicly for the first time to name a successor, positioning herself as a possibility as his advanced age takes a toll ahead of next year's election.

Twenty-year-old model Gabriella Engels has accused Mrs Mugabe of assaulting her on Sunday night while she was visiting Mugabe's sons at a hotel room in an upscale Johannesburg suburb. She claims the first lady's bodyguards stood by and watched as Mrs Mugabe attacked her.

Ms Engels posted several photos on social media showing a gash in her forehead, which she claimed was a result of the alleged encounter.

"She flipped and just kept beating me with the plug. Over and over," Ms Engels told local news channel News24. "I had no idea what was going on. I was surprised. I needed to crawl out of the room before I could run away."

Police confirmed that a 20-year-old woman registered "a case of assault with intent to do grievous bodily harm" on Monday, but said the suspect could not be named as she had not yet appeared in court.

"The investigation into this case has already reached an advanced stage," a police statement on Tuesday said.

It was unclear whether Mrs Mugabe would qualify for diplomatic immunity if charges are brought against her.

There was no immediate comment by Zimbabwe's government or ruling party.

It was not clear on Tuesday night whether Mrs Mugabe was still in South Africa or had returned to Zimbabwe.

"If she went back, I just hope the police can do something to get her back," Ms Engels said. "I don't want her to get away with this."

She said she had recently met the Mugabe brothers and that mutual friends invited her to hang out at the hotel. She said the brothers were in the room the night of the alleged assault.

"I don't know how she got into the hotel room. We didn't know she was Robert Mugabe's wife," Ms Engels said. "I only found out outside when blood was rushing down my face and back."</s>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, but she failed to show up.

The first lady’s whereabouts are not known but she is believed to still be in South Africa.

Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe is now also in the country ahead of a southern African heads of state meeting due to start on Friday.

Police Minister Fikile Mbalula said: “We, in terms of South African police, [have] already put tabs on the borders in relation to her leaving the country, so there is no question about that.

“So tabs have been put, a red alert has been put, so she is not somebody who has been running away.”

Meanwhile, South African lawyer Gerrie Nel, who successfully prosecuted Paralympic athlete Oscar Pistorius, is supporting the woman making the allegation, Gabriella Engels.

Mr Nel is now working with the Afriforum group, which mainly lobbies for the rights of Afrikaners in South Africa.

Afriforum said if the police failed to act in the case then it would take up a private prosecution.

It also said that it would fight any move to grant Mrs Mugabe diplomatic immunity.

South Africa’s government risks a public backlash if it lets Mrs Mugabe go scot-free.

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.

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.

It seems that ministers want to avoid a similar backlash and are therefore insisting that Mrs Mugabe must appear in court.

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.

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.

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.

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.</s>Johannesburg (AFP) - Zimbabwean first lady Grace Mugabe is a "massive flight risk" and must be arrested over allegations that she attacked a model in Johannesburg, South Africa's main opposition party said Friday.

Grace Mugabe, who has not been seen since the alleged assault on Sunday, is due to attend a Southern African Development Community (SADC) meeting in Pretoria this weekend along with her husband President Robert Mugabe.

South Africa police said Thursday they were on "red alert" to prevent Grace Mugabe from leaving the country.

The Mugabes will join other heads of state and their spouses at the two-day meeting in the South African capital.

The first lady is alleged to have hit Gabriella Engels with an electrical extension cord at a Johannesburg hotel where her two sons were staying.

"No one is above the law and the DA will do everything possible to ensure that Ms Mugabe is not allowed to flee South Africa before she faces up to the charges against her," the Democratic Alliance party said.

Engels -- who has registered a case of assault with intent to do grievous bodily harm -- appeared at a press conference on Thursday, wearing a large plaster on the left side of her forehead.

President Mugabe flew into South Africa late Wednesday, the day after his wife failed to report to police over the alleged assault.

Grace Mugabe has claimed diplomatic immunity over the allegations, according to South African police.</s>JOHANNESBURG (AP) - The Latest on the assault allegation against Zimbabwe first lady Grace Mugabe (all times local):

South Africa's police minister says a "red alert" has been issued to prevent Zimbabwe first lady Grace Mugabe from leaving the country before she settles the accusation that she assaulted a young model.

The African News Agency reports that Minister of Police Fikile Mbalula said that all borders have been notified not to permit Mugabe from leaving the country until the matter is resolved.

South African authorities are debating whether to grant Mugabe diplomatic immunity which Zimbabwe's government has requested.

Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe has arrived in South Africa as his wife is accused of assaulting a young model.

Mugabe flew into Pretoria with his entourage late Wednesday night, apparently to help his wife with the ongoing scandal. The Zimbabwean president arrived early for a regional summit of southern African nations.

The model who accuses Zimbabwe's first lady of assault has been offered help by a prominent lawyer who secured the murder conviction of Oscar Pistorius.

Gerrie Nel, a former state prosecutor who now works as a private prosecutor for AfriForum, an organization that primarily represents the rights of South Africa's white Afrikaner minority, said he will offer legal help to Gabriella Engels, the 20-year-old woman who filed a complaint of assault against Grace Mugabe.

In this photo provided by Debbie Engels and taken on Monday, Aug. 14, 2017, Gabriella Engels is seen with an injury to her forehead in Johannesburg, South Africa. Twenty-year-old model Gabriella Engels has accused Grace Mugabe of assaulting her on Sunday, Aug. 13 while she was visiting Mugabe's sons in a hotel room in an upscale Johannesburg suburb. She claims the first lady's bodyguards stood by and watched as Mugabe attacked her. (Debbie Engels via AP)</s>Pretoria - Police Minister Fikile Mbalula on Thursday said that police have put out a "red alert" at South African borders for Zimbabwean first lady Grace Mugabe, in case she attempted to leave the country.

Speaking at the sidelines of an indaba on gender based violence, Mbalula said security measures have been put at the borders, however, she had not made any attempts to leave. Matters involving her diplomatic immunity still needed to be resolved.

"We, in terms of South African Police, already put tabs in the borders in relation to her leaving the country, so there is no question about that," said Mbalula.

"So tabs have been put, a red alert has been put, so she is not somebody who has been running away," he said.

Mugabe has been accused of assaulting South African model Gabriella Engels at a Sandton hotel last weekend.

She was visiting her sons on Sunday when she reportedly stormed into their room and assaulted Engels, who she accused of living with her sons - who are both in their 20s and live in Johannesburg.

Mugabe allegedly assaulted Engels with an electric cord in the face and head. The model sustained serious injuries and has since laid a charge of assault with the intent to do grievous bodily harm.

The police ministry had previously announced that Mugabe would be appearing in court to answer for the charges but she never pitched.

It was also reported that she would hand herself over to police to give a warning statement, this also never happened.

In a subsequent press release the ministry said her lawyers and government representatives made verbal representations to SAPS investigators that the suspect wished to invoke diplomatic immunity cover and she elected to change her mind about the warning statement.

'Nothing will just be left'

Mbalula said since the matter was now in the hands of Dirco.

"There has been an exchange since the day I announced she would appear in the Wynberg Magistrate's Court, which was an agreement, she didn't appear up until the point now, where issues of immunity must be attended to."

Mbalula added that, had it been someone else facing such allegations, they could have already moved on the person in terms of the issues.

"Anyone that comes to South Africa must know we are a constitutional state and a law state and nothing will just be left."

It has been reported that President Robert Mugabe has arrived in South Africa two days early for the 37th SADC Heads of State and Government Summit.</s>News websites in Zimbabwe have published a report claiming a radically different of what their first lady, Grace Mugabe, had done when she allegedly attacked 20-year-old model Gabriella Engels in Johannesburg.

They report that South African police are supposedly in possession of a signed document by Mugabe in which she accuses “a South African-Greek young lady of supplying high-end drugs to her sons”.

In this affidavit, Mugabe is apparently claiming that her boys use women as “decoys” to get drugs for them.

They claim Mugabe accuses Engels of just being “a runner” for a “Mr DuPlesis”.

Heaping great praise on Mugabe, they further report that – despite evidence she has done no such thing thus far – she “surrendered herself to the police so that this high-clientele drug dealer could be arrested”.

They said her attack on Engels was due to her finding her sons “high on drugs while they were in the company of the complainant in a hotel room”.

As a result, she apparently went “berserk”.

The reports further allege that the reason the boys were moved to South Africa from Dubai was also due to their penchant for expensive drugs.

Their father, Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe, “was warned of the likely consequence for them doing drugs in a conservative Islamic country with death penalty”.

These reports on a number of websites featuring other news from Zimbabwe, have not been corroborated or verified, but may be an attempt by the state to confuse the issue. Alternatively, this may indeed be the version of events that Mugabe has offered the police.

On Thursday, Engels and her mother said at a press conference that Mugabe had burst into a room on Sunday night at The Capital 20 West Hotel in Sandton – where she and two other women were sitting – and started hitting them with an extension cord as her bodyguards looked on.

The other women decided not to lay any charges against Mugabe.

Engels said she had suffered deep cuts to her forehead and the back of her head and, on Monday, she registered a case with the police, alleging assault with intent to do grievous bodily harm.

On Tuesday, Grace should have appeared at a Johannesburg police station and, because she was in the country as an ordinary citizen, she could not claim diplomatic immunity.

Yesterday, however, she could do so after a request by the Zimbabwe government was timed to coincide with President Robert Mugabe’s arrival at Waterkloof Air Force base in Pretoria.

A South African government source confirmed yesterday that Grace would be given immunity, despite the fact that her alleged assault on a Sandton model on Sunday happened when she was on a private visit to South Africa.

Advocate Gerrie Nel, of civil rights watchdog AfriForum, also announced the organisation’s support for Engels.

The support entails, among other things, that Nel will monitor the handling of the case by the South African Police Service (SAPS) and the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), as well as the implementation of private prosecution should the NPA fail to prosecute Mugabe without good cause.

AfriForum said, should diplomatic immunity be granted to Mugabe, AfriForum would be prepared to fight that in the highest court.

AfriForum’s Trauma Unit will also provide Engels with support to help process the trauma of the assault.

Engels was sitting next to her mother, Debbie Engels, during the conference, with a white plaster on her head.

AfriForum CEO Kallie Kriel said it was an honour for his organisation to support Engels because she was prepared to take a stand for justice despite enormous pressure.

The communication with the family is not what one would expect, as they have not been kept abreast of developments. They had allegedly been approached by a third party to accept an amount of money to settle the matter.</s>As the confusion continues with regards to First Lady Grace Mugabe’s assault case there are reports that police in South Africa have issued a red alert to stop Mugabe, from leaving the country.

The African News Agency (ANA) reported that South Africa’s police minister, Fikile Mbalula, had ordered border staff to prevent Mugabe from leaving until the matter was resolved.

Speaking to reporters in Pretoria on Thursday, Mbalula said: “We have already put tabs in the borders in relation to her leaving the country so there is no question about that. The red alert has been put.”

The move comes after Mugabe – the wife of the 93-year-old Zimbabwean president, Robert Mugabe – failed to appear in court to face charges of assault. Robert Mugabe travelled to Pretoria on Wednesday night in an apparent attempt to help his wife, arriving early for a summit of regional leaders.

Grace Mugabe, 52, is accused of attacking 20-year-old Gabriella Engels with an electrical extension cord after the model went to see the Mugabes’ sons Robert and Chatunga at the Capital 20 West hotel in Johannesburg’s upmarket Sandton district on Sunday.

On Wednesday it was reported that Grace Mugabe may already have returned to Zimbabwe, but Mbalula insisted she had not tried to leave the country.

South African police said Harare had since requested “diplomatic immunity cover”.

“She has her own version of the events … It is for our investigators who have the case and to engage with her to come and answer in relation to this matter,” Mbalula told ANA.

He said police had to treat her differently from an “ordinary person” because of her diplomatic status. “If it was somebody else, in relation with being a suspect … we could have long moved and raided on her in terms of the issues,” said Mbalula.

“We were chilling in a hotel room, and [the sons] were in the room next door. She came in and started hitting us. She flipped and just kept beating me with the plug, over and over,” Engels told local media.

The South African model said she had no clue who her attacker was until the alleged assault was over. She had “no idea what was going on … I was surprised. I had to crawl out of the room before I could run away,” she said.

Accusing the first lady’s bodyguards of standing by and watching during the alleged assault, Engels said: “The front of my forehead is busted open. I’m a model and I make my money based on my looks.”

Engels has been offered legal help by Gerrie Nel, a lawyer who prosecuted Oscar Pistorius for murder.

Nel told reporters there was a “possibility of political interference” in the case. He said diplomatic immunity could not be used to “escape prosecution from grave crimes”.- Guardian</s>Source: ‘Red Alert’ Over Zimbabwe First Lady, Accused of Assault | World News | US News August 17, 2017

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — Lawyers for the young model who claims she was assaulted by Zimbabwe’s first lady Grace Mugabe in a Johannesburg hotel said Thursday that her family had been approached with an offer of money to drop the allegation.

Lawyers for 20-year-old Gabriella Engels threatened to go to court if South Africa’s government grants Mugabe immunity, saying it cannot be used to “escape prosecution from grave crimes.”

The lawyers said Engels’ family had been approached with an offer of “financial compensation” by a third party, which Engels refused. “They made an offer and said ‘Let us talk, this will go away.’ … There was no amount mentioned,” said Gerrie Nel, a prominent South African lawyer who has offered his assistance to Engels.

In a letter sent Thursday to the South African government, Willie Spies, another lawyer involved in the case, said the offer was made Tuesday and suggested that Engels should “come up with a figure so that parties could meet in order to settle the matter quietly.”

The scandal has become a diplomatic mess for South Africa’s government and Zimbabwe’s 93-year-old President Robert Mugabe, who arrived in South Africa’s capital late Wednesday apparently to deal with the crisis. He came early for a regional summit of southern African nations this weekend.

South Africa’s minister of police, Fikile Mbalula, said all borders had been notified to prevent Grace Mugabe from leaving the country before the matter is resolved, the African News Agency reported. “The red alert has been put,” Mbalula told reporters.

Engels has registered a case with police accusing Mugabe of attacking her with an extension cord in a luxury hotel in a Johannesburg suburb late Sunday. Engels said she was in a hotel room with mutual friends of Mugabe’s two sons, who live in Johannesburg, when the first lady burst in and assaulted her. Photos of Engels posted on social media show a bloody gash to her forehead that she claimed was a result of the encounter.

The question of immunity is “totally out of our jurisdiction,” said Brigadier Vishnu Naidoo, a police spokesman. Until there is a decision on the immunity application, he said, “the whole investigation is in abeyance.”

Engels has been offered legal help by Nel, a former state prosecutor who now works as a private prosecutor for AfriForum, an organization that primarily represents the rights of South Africa’s white Afrikaner minority. Nel secured the murder conviction of Oscar Pistorius.

“Now I know this woman is not going to get off scot-free for what she did to my child,” she said.

The debate over whether Mugabe should be granted immunity quickly took on a political dimension in South Africa, with the opposition Democratic Alliance calling on President Jacob Zuma’s Cabinet to ensure the first lady is brought to justice.

“Ms. Mugabe should have applied for diplomatic immunity before she came to our country, not after she finds herself facing criminal charges,” said Zakhele Mbhele, a member of parliament for the Democratic Alliance. He said the police minister “needs to do his job and ensure she is arrested and has her day in court to answer the serious charges against her.”
The South African Police Service issues a red alert at the country's borders to prevent First Lady of Zimbabwe Grace Mugabe from leaving the country. She is wanted on charges of "assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm" on a 20-year-old woman in a hotel room in Johannesburg.