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Auxilia Katongomara, Chronicle Reporter
A SOUTH African court yesterday set aside the International Relations Department’s decision to grant former First Lady, Mrs Grace Mugabe diplomatic immunity.
The ruling paves the way for her to be extradited to face prosecution for allegedly assaulting South African model Gabriella Engels after finding her in the company of her sons, Robert Jnr and Chatunga Bellarmine at a Sandton Hotel in August last year.
Mrs Mugabe admitted to assaulting Engels but claimed that she acted in self-defence and was allowed to leave that country without being prosecuted.
According to reports from South Africa, the High Court in Johannesburg set aside the diplomatic immunity saying it was constitutionally invalid.
Judge Bashier Vally found the decision to grant Mrs Mugabe diplomatic immunity was inconsistent with the Constitution.
“Judge Bashier Vally said the former Minister of International Relations and Cooperation, Maite Nkoana-Mashabane, had not been consistent with the South
African Constitution when she made the decision. He said her decision had been reviewed and set aside,” reads a report from South Africa.
The judge ordered Nkoana-Mashabane, who’s now the Minister of Rural Development and Land Reform, to pay legal costs for the Democratic Alliance (DA) and AfriForum who took the matter to court.
The DA and AfriForum had argued that Mrs Mugabe was not entitled to automatic diplomatic immunity because she was the spouse of a Head of State.
The International Relations Department claimed that it did not grant the immunity, but rather recognised it under international law.
Online Reporter