JOHANNESBURG: Zimbabwe’s First Lady, Grace Mugabe, has denied assaulting South African model Gabriella Engels with an electric cable in a Johannesburg hotel suite last month, saying an “intoxicated and unhinged” Engels attacked her with a knife.
In a previously unreported Aug. 17 deposition seen exclusively by Reuters, Mugabe countered 20-year-old Engels’ version, portraying herself as the victim after intervening on behalf of her adult sons Chatunga and Robert Junior who were “in trouble with a drunken young woman.”
The statement said Grace Mugabe, 52 and a contender to replace her 93-year-old husband as Zimbabwe’s president, was thinking about filing attempted murder charges.
A group representing Engels dismissed the allegations as lies. According to the model, an irate Mugabe burst into the room where she was waiting with two friends to meet Chatunga on Aug. 13 and started laying into her with an electric cable.
Photographs taken by Engels’ mother soon after the incident showed gashes to the model’s head. She also had bruising on her thighs.
In her deposition, Mugabe dismissed Engels’ version as “malicious allegations” and said she had been attacked after going to help her sons.
“She was worried about them and went to see them at their hotel suite,” the statement said. “Upon her arrival, Ms Engels, who was intoxicated and unhinged, attacked Dr. Grace Mugabe with a knife after she was asked to leave the hotel.”
“Security was left with no other option but to remove Ms Engels from the hotel suite,” it continued.
The statement also alleged that Engels had been in a fight with other women at Johannesburg’s Taboo nightclub the previous evening and suggested that may have been the cause of her injuries.
Afriforum, an Afrikaans civil society group acting on behalf of Engels, denied both accusations.
“Gabriella never attacked Grace Mugabe in any way and she did not participate in the fight at Taboo,” Afriforum said.
“It is clear that Grace Mugabe is desperately trying to escape responsibility for her own violent behavior by using lies to falsely portray the victim in this case as the perpetrator.”
South Africa granted Grace Mugabe diplomatic immunity, allowing her to evade immediate prosecution for assault, although Engels and Afriforum have challenged that decision, saying Mugabe was not in South Africa on official business.
They also argued that assault was a “grave crime” that was not covered by diplomatic immunity laws.
The decision to let Grace Mugabe return home caused a row in South Africa, with the opposition Democratic Alliance also going to court to overturn the immunity.
“EMBARRASSMENT“
According to Zimbabwean intelligence files seen by Reuters, Robert Mugabe lobbied his South African counterpart, Jacob Zuma, to have the issue “solved amicably” and out of court but was stymied by Engels’ refusal to accept a settlement.
“He is trying to avoid the embarrassment of his wife appearing before the court,” one file, dated Aug. 30, reads.
“The problem he is facing is that the woman who was assaulted is refusing to accept any money and she just wants justice to be delivered upon Grace.”
Afriforum lawyer Gerrie Nel — best known for prosecuting South African track star Oscar Pistorius over the shooting of his girlfriend — said last month Engels had been approached with a cash offer but had turned it down.
The intelligence report is a part of a series of hundreds of files dating back to 2009 that have come from within Zimbabwe’s Central Intelligence Organization (CIO). Reuters has not been able to establish their original author or final audience.
The Aug. 30 report said Mugabe was “changing his attitude” to the case and was now backing Grace while accusing Engels of impropriety.
“Mugabe wants people to stop castigating his wife and calling her all sorts of names,” it said. “Mugabe is saying that his wife acted in an angry mood like all other women who find their children being involved with sleeping with whores.”
Afriforum chief executive Kallie Kriel said this allegation was an “absolute lie” and part of a deliberate attempt by Harare to undermine Engels’ credibility as a witness.
A spokesman for Zimbabwe’s presidency, which has direct oversight of the CIO, was not immediately available for comment. Zimbabwe’s ambassador to South Africa did not respond to a request for comment.
Zuma has denied any hand in the affair, telling parliament on Aug. 31: “I am not a lawyer. I don’t know the point of law and I was not involved in this process. How it was done, I would be lying if I speculate.” His spokesman declined to elaborate.
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Zimbabwe’s Grace Mugabe says model attacked her with knife
Zimbabwe’s Grace Mugabe says model attacked her with knife
Japan prepares to restart world’s biggest nuclear plant, 15 years after Fukushima
NIIGATA: Japan took the final step to allow the world’s largest nuclear power plant to resume operations with a regional vote on Monday, a watershed moment in the country’s return to nuclear energy nearly 15 years after the Fukushima disaster. Kashiwazaki-Kariwa, located about 220 km (136 miles) northwest of Tokyo, was among 54 reactors shut after the 2011 earthquake and tsunami crippled the Fukushima Daiichi plant in the worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl.
Since then, Japan has restarted 14 of the 33 that remain operable, as it tries to wean itself off imported fossil fuels. Kashiwazaki-Kariwa will be the first operated by Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO), which ran the doomed Fukushima plant. On Monday, Niigata prefecture’s assembly passed a vote of confidence on Niigata Governor Hideyo Hanazumi, who backed the restart last month, effectively allowing for the plant to begin operations again.
“This is a milestone, but this is not the end,” Hanazumi told reporters after the vote. “There is no end in terms of ensuring the safety of Niigata residents.”
While lawmakers voted in support of Hanazumi, the assembly session, the last for the year, exposed the community’s divisions over the restart, despite new jobs and potentially lower electricity bills.
“This is nothing other than a political settlement that does not take into account the will of the Niigata residents,” an assembly member opposed to the restart told fellow lawmakers as the vote was about to begin.
Outside, around 300 protesters stood in the cold holding banners reading ‘No Nukes’, ‘We oppose the restart of Kashiwazaki-Kariwa’ and ‘Support Fukushima’. “I am truly angry from the bottom of my heart,” Kenichiro Ishiyama, a 77-year-old protester from Niigata city, told Reuters after the vote. “If something was to happen at the plant, we would be the ones to suffer the consequences.”
TEPCO is considering reactivating the first of seven reactors at the plant on January 20, public broadcaster NHK reported.
Kashiwazaki-Kariwa’s total capacity is 8.2 GW, enough to power a few million homes. The pending restart would bring one 1.36 GW unit online next year and start another one with the same capacity around 2030.
“We remain firmly committed to never repeating such an accident and ensuring Niigata residents never experience anything similar,” said TEPCO spokesperson Masakatsu Takata. Takata declined to comment on timing. TEPCO shares closed up 2 percent in afternoon trade in Tokyo, higher than the wider Nikkei index, which was up 1.8 percent.
RELUCTANT RESIDENTS WARY OF RESTART
TEPCO earlier this year pledged to inject 100 billion yen ($641 million) into the prefecture over the next 10 years as it sought to win the support of Niigata residents.
But a survey published by the prefecture in October found 60 percent of residents did not think conditions for the restart had been met. Nearly 70 percent were worried about TEPCO operating the plant.
Ayako Oga, 52, settled in Niigata after fleeing the area around the Fukushima plant in 2011 with 160,000 other evacuees. Her old home was inside the 20 km irradiated exclusion zone.
The farmer and anti-nuclear activist has joined the Niigata protests.
“We know firsthand the risk of a nuclear accident and cannot dismiss it,” said Oga, adding that she still struggles with post-traumatic stress-like symptoms from what happened at Fukushima.
Even Niigata Governor Hanazumi hopes that Japan will eventually be able to reduce its reliance on nuclear power. “I want to see an era where we don’t have to rely on energy sources that cause anxiety,” he said last month.
STRENGTHENING ENERGY SECURITY
The Monday vote was seen as the final hurdle before TEPCO restarts the first reactor, which alone could boost electricity supply to the Tokyo area by 2 percent, Japan’s trade ministry has estimated. Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, who took office two months ago, has backed nuclear restarts to strengthen energy security and to counter the cost of imported fossil fuels, which account for 60 percent to 70 percent of Japan’s electricity generation.
Japan spent 10.7 trillion yen ($68 billion) last year on imported liquefied natural gas and coal, a tenth of its total import costs.
Despite its shrinking population, Japan expects energy demand to rise over the coming decade due to a boom in power-hungry AI data centers. To meet those needs, and its decarbonization commitments, it has set a target of doubling the share of nuclear power in its electricity mix to 20 percent by 2040.
Joshua Ngu, vice chairman for Asia Pacific at consultancy Wood Mackenzie, said public acceptance of the restart of Kashiwazaki-Kariwa would represent “a critical milestone” toward reaching those goals. In July, Kansai Electric Power, Japan’s top nuclear power operator, said it would begin conducting surveys for a reactor in western Japan, the first new unit since the Fukushima disaster.
But for Oga, who was in the crowd outside the assembly on Monday chanting ‘Never forget Fukushima’s lessons!’, the nuclear revival is a terrifying reminder of the potential risks. “At the time (2011), I never thought that TEPCO would operate a nuclear power plant again,” she said.
“As a victim of the Fukushima nuclear accident, I wish that no one, whether in Japan or anywhere in the world, ever again suffers the damage of a nuclear accident.”
Since then, Japan has restarted 14 of the 33 that remain operable, as it tries to wean itself off imported fossil fuels. Kashiwazaki-Kariwa will be the first operated by Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO), which ran the doomed Fukushima plant. On Monday, Niigata prefecture’s assembly passed a vote of confidence on Niigata Governor Hideyo Hanazumi, who backed the restart last month, effectively allowing for the plant to begin operations again.
“This is a milestone, but this is not the end,” Hanazumi told reporters after the vote. “There is no end in terms of ensuring the safety of Niigata residents.”
While lawmakers voted in support of Hanazumi, the assembly session, the last for the year, exposed the community’s divisions over the restart, despite new jobs and potentially lower electricity bills.
“This is nothing other than a political settlement that does not take into account the will of the Niigata residents,” an assembly member opposed to the restart told fellow lawmakers as the vote was about to begin.
Outside, around 300 protesters stood in the cold holding banners reading ‘No Nukes’, ‘We oppose the restart of Kashiwazaki-Kariwa’ and ‘Support Fukushima’. “I am truly angry from the bottom of my heart,” Kenichiro Ishiyama, a 77-year-old protester from Niigata city, told Reuters after the vote. “If something was to happen at the plant, we would be the ones to suffer the consequences.”
TEPCO is considering reactivating the first of seven reactors at the plant on January 20, public broadcaster NHK reported.
Kashiwazaki-Kariwa’s total capacity is 8.2 GW, enough to power a few million homes. The pending restart would bring one 1.36 GW unit online next year and start another one with the same capacity around 2030.
“We remain firmly committed to never repeating such an accident and ensuring Niigata residents never experience anything similar,” said TEPCO spokesperson Masakatsu Takata. Takata declined to comment on timing. TEPCO shares closed up 2 percent in afternoon trade in Tokyo, higher than the wider Nikkei index, which was up 1.8 percent.
RELUCTANT RESIDENTS WARY OF RESTART
TEPCO earlier this year pledged to inject 100 billion yen ($641 million) into the prefecture over the next 10 years as it sought to win the support of Niigata residents.
But a survey published by the prefecture in October found 60 percent of residents did not think conditions for the restart had been met. Nearly 70 percent were worried about TEPCO operating the plant.
Ayako Oga, 52, settled in Niigata after fleeing the area around the Fukushima plant in 2011 with 160,000 other evacuees. Her old home was inside the 20 km irradiated exclusion zone.
The farmer and anti-nuclear activist has joined the Niigata protests.
“We know firsthand the risk of a nuclear accident and cannot dismiss it,” said Oga, adding that she still struggles with post-traumatic stress-like symptoms from what happened at Fukushima.
Even Niigata Governor Hanazumi hopes that Japan will eventually be able to reduce its reliance on nuclear power. “I want to see an era where we don’t have to rely on energy sources that cause anxiety,” he said last month.
STRENGTHENING ENERGY SECURITY
The Monday vote was seen as the final hurdle before TEPCO restarts the first reactor, which alone could boost electricity supply to the Tokyo area by 2 percent, Japan’s trade ministry has estimated. Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, who took office two months ago, has backed nuclear restarts to strengthen energy security and to counter the cost of imported fossil fuels, which account for 60 percent to 70 percent of Japan’s electricity generation.
Japan spent 10.7 trillion yen ($68 billion) last year on imported liquefied natural gas and coal, a tenth of its total import costs.
Despite its shrinking population, Japan expects energy demand to rise over the coming decade due to a boom in power-hungry AI data centers. To meet those needs, and its decarbonization commitments, it has set a target of doubling the share of nuclear power in its electricity mix to 20 percent by 2040.
Joshua Ngu, vice chairman for Asia Pacific at consultancy Wood Mackenzie, said public acceptance of the restart of Kashiwazaki-Kariwa would represent “a critical milestone” toward reaching those goals. In July, Kansai Electric Power, Japan’s top nuclear power operator, said it would begin conducting surveys for a reactor in western Japan, the first new unit since the Fukushima disaster.
But for Oga, who was in the crowd outside the assembly on Monday chanting ‘Never forget Fukushima’s lessons!’, the nuclear revival is a terrifying reminder of the potential risks. “At the time (2011), I never thought that TEPCO would operate a nuclear power plant again,” she said.
“As a victim of the Fukushima nuclear accident, I wish that no one, whether in Japan or anywhere in the world, ever again suffers the damage of a nuclear accident.”
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