AfriForum wants answers from government regarding extradition of Grace Mugabe

7 July 2020

AfriForum’s Private Prosecution Unit today in a letter to Adv. JB Skosana, Director General of the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development, requested that he provides proof that his Department has taken the necessary steps to ensure that Grace Mugabe is extradited to the South African authorities for prosecution on charges of assault with the intent to do grievous bodily harm. Mugabe assaulted and seriously injured Gabriella Engels, a model from Johannesburg, with an extension cord in 2017.

This follows after Adv. Shamilla Batohi, National Director of Public Prosecutions (NDPP), informed AfriForum’s Private Prosecution Unit in June 2020 that the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) already submitted a request for the extradition of the accused with the Department in July 2019. The NPA also requested that this application be transmitted to the Zimbabwean authorities.

According to Andrew Leask, Chief Investigator at the Private Prosecution Unit, AfriForum wants to know whether this application was formally transmitted to the Zimbabwean authorities and whether there was any reaction to it. “This case has been dragging on since 2017 and we will continue to put pressure on the government to ensure that Mugabe is finally held accountable for her actions and that justice is served for Ms Engels.”

Issued by Carina Bester, Media Relations Officer, AfriForum, 7 July 2020

Correction 8 July 2020