The DA has applied for direct access to the Constitutional Court to have the diplomatic immunity granted to Zimbabwe's First Lady Grace Mugabe set aside. A News24 report says it filed papers claiming that International Relations and Co-operation Minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane's decision to let Mugabe off the hook for alleged assault was ‘wholly without legal merit’, and should be declared invalid.

Mugabe was accused of beating Gabriella Engels (20) with an extension cord in Sandton earlier this month. ‘The DA believes that the decision by the Minister, in granting immunity, was hasty, embarrassing and above all, illegal and unconstitutional,’ the DA's James Selfe said. ‘It is frankly unconscionable that after the scathing ruling by the Constitutional Court in the Al-Bashir matter, that the ANC-led government would once again let a high profile person escape justice in SA.’

It was clear that Mugabe was granted immunity simply to shield her from being tried in a court of law for her assault on Engels and two others, Selfe argued. Condoning such behaviour, as the granting of immunity did, could not possibly be in the interest of SA. ‘There is therefore no legal basis for such a decision.’ Grace Mugabe was not a member of the Zimbabwean Government and was in SA on personal business, he continued.

Full News24 report