By Talent Gondo| South Africa’s Foreign Affairs Ministry has said Grace Mugabe’s diplomatic immunity no longer exists. Advocate Hilton Epstein SC, told the Pretoria High Court on Thursday that the minister accepts that Grace no longer has protection. Epstein however added saying 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.

This all came as the South African model Gabriella Engels who was assaulted by Grace said she hoped Mrs Mugabe will be brought back to  South Africa to face justice.

Engels, who opened assault charges against Mugabe in 2017, on Thursday said she was leaving everything in God’s hands.

“I hope she does come back to account,” said Engels.

“I leave everything now in God’s hands and I know that he will get us through everything.”

Gabriella said this while speaking to journalists as she walked into the packed courtroom at the High Court in Pretoria where Mugabe’s diplomatic immunity is being challenged.

Gabriella was accompanied by her mother Debbie Engels, who expressed optimism that justice would prevail.

“I’m very optimistic. Very, very optimistic. I’m happy that the ball has started rolling and we have a good legal team that is backing us, so we are optimistic that things will go well,” said Debbie.

AfriForum, a South Affican civil rights group is now representing Gabriella in her bid to revoke the diplomatic immunity granted to Zimbabwe’s former first lady.

Advocate Gerrie Nel, Head of AfriForum’s private prosecution unit, told African News Agency that his organisation was confident that the diplomatic immunity granted to Mrs Mugabe after she assaulted Engels would be set aside by the court.

“We are saying the granting of the diplomatic immunity happened as an afterthought since it was after the assault on our client Ms Gabriella Engels.

We want to ensure that there is equality before the law, that there are no selective prosecutions, and that people are not sheltered from prosecution because of an afterthought of granting diplomatic immunity,” said Nel.

He said he believed and was confident that the diplomatic immunity would be lifted.

“If that happens, then certainly the NPA must do their duty and that is to ensure that the accused is brought back into the country and that there is a prosecution,” he said adding that failure to lift the immunity left their organisation with no choice but to prosecute privately.

“Failure to bring her (Mrs Mugabe) back to South Africa for prosecution, we have said this before- we will privately prosecute,” said Gel.