AfriForum yesterday filed a review application at the Gauteng High Court (Pretoria) asking the court to set aside a decision by Minister of International Relations and Co-operation Maite Nkoana-Mashabane to grant diplomatic immunity to Grace Mugabe. A TimesLIVE report says Gabriella Engels‚ who was allegedly assaulted by the Zimbabwean First Lady in a hotel room in Johannesburg – and whom AfriForum is assisting in the matter – argued in a statement to the court that the Minister misinterpreted Section 7(2) of the Diplomatic Immunity and Privileges Act and she did not have the power to grant immunity to Mugabe.

Full TimesLIVE report

AfriForum argues that the assault charge is a ‘serious crime’ as defined in the Act, Beeld reports. According to the organisation, the Foreign States Immunities Act of 1981 specifically excludes immunity to heads of state for crimes causing death or injury to South Africans. If a head of state would not even qualify for immunity under such circumstances, the wife of a head of state can also not get immunity, AfriForum argues. The review application is not expected to be heard within the next five months.

Full Beeld report (subscription needed)

Meanwhile, Nkoana-Mashabane has announced that she had written to Speaker Baleka Mbete concerning the diplomatic immunity granted to the Zimbabwean First Lady. According to a report in The Mercury, it is not clear if Nkoana-Mashabane will be summoned before Parliament’s International Relations Portfolio Committee to explain herself as she said she had already written to the committee’s chairperson, Moses Masango.

Full report in The Mercury (subscription needed)