Grace Mugabe returns to Zimbabwe despite assault charges

Zimbabwe's First lady Grace Mugabe on Sunday returned home from South Africa despite calls that she be prosecuted for allegedly assaulting a 20-year-old South African model at a luxury hotel in Johannesburg last week.

Grace Mugabe returned with her husband to Harare on an Air Zimbabwe flight on Sunday morning, reports Zimbabwean state media following the incident in which she had sought diplomatic immunity to stave off assault charges, that sparked outrage in South Africa and threatened to escalate into a diplomatic incident.

South African police had placed border posts on "red alert" to prevent her from leaving the country, but a security source told Reuters that the wife of 93-year-old President Robert Mugabe had been granted diplomatic immunity.

The South African authorities then confirmed on Sunday that Mrs. Mugabe, 52, had been granted diplomatic immunity. The international relations and cooperation minister, Maite Nkoana-Mashabane, said in a statement that she was “acting in the interests of South Africa” in recognizing “the immunities and privileges” of Mrs. Mugabe.

Before the South African statement was released, Mrs. Mugabe was seen greeting government and military officials at the airport in Harare, the state broadcaster ZBC reported.

I hereby recognise the immunities and privileges of the First Lady of the Republic of Zimbabwe, Dr Grace Mugabe," the minister, Maite Nkoana-Mashabane, said in a notice published in South Africa's Government Gazette on Sunday.

A wounded Gabriella Engels has accused Grace Mugabe of whipping her with an electric extension cable a week ago as she waited with two friends in a luxury hotel suite to meet one of Mugabe's sons.