A lawyer representing South Africa’s foreign ministry, Advocate Hilton Epstein SC, told the Pretoria High Court on Thursday that the minister accepts that Grace Mugabe’s diplomatic immunity no longer exists. However, Epstein said the minister did not confer diplomatic immunity on Zimbabwe’s former first lady arguing that she already had it thus the minister could not give her something she already had.
Grace was granted diplomatic immunity following her alleged assault of Gabriella Engels in Johannesburg last year. The Democratic Alliance (DA) and AfriForum have approached the court to have the International Relations Department’s decision to grant Mugabe amnesty reviewed and set aside. The matter continues tomorrow.