Zimbabwe’s first lady, Grace Mugabe, is due in court in South Africa following reports of an alleged assault, South Africa’s police minister says.
Fikile Mbalula said: “She’s not under arrest because she co-operated and handed herself over to the police.”
She is alleged to have attacked a young woman at a Johannesburg area hotel.
The woman, 20, accused Mrs Mugabe, 52, of hitting her in the face and put images of a head wound on social media.
Mrs Mugabe has not yet commented.
South African police confirmed that the 20-year-old had registered a case of assault with intent to do grievous bodily harm.
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Mrs Mugabe allegedly attacked the woman with an extension cord after finding her with her two sons in a hotel room in Sandton, a plush suburb north of Johannesburg.
The attack is said to have happened on Sunday evening, reports the BBC‘s Pumza Fihlani.
Mrs Mugabe is seen as a staunch defender of President Robert Mugabe, 93, and is the leader of the powerful women’s league of Zimbabwe’s governing Zanu-PF party.
Zimbabwe Information Minister Christopher Mushowe told the BBC that he was unaware of the allegation.
Mrs Mugabe was in South Africa to be treated for an ankle injury, sustained during a road accident last month, when the alleged assault took place, according to Zimbabwean media.
It is not clear whether she was travelling on a diplomatic or a normal passport.
Who is Grace Mugabe?
- Began affair with Robert Mugabe, 41 years her senior, while working as a typist in state house
- Mr Mugabe later said his first wife Sally, who was terminally ill at the time, knew and approved of the relationship
- Married Mr Mugabe, her second husband, in 1996 in an extravagant ceremony. They have three children
- Nicknamed “Gucci Grace” by her critics who accuse her of lavish spending
- Along with her husband, is subject to EU and US sanctions, including travel bans
- Praised by supporters for her charitable work and founding of an orphanage
- Received a PhD in September 2014, a month after being nominated to take over the leadership of the Zanu-PF women’s league
