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Grace Ntombizodwa Mugabe (formerly Goreraza, Birth name Marufu; born 23 July 1965) is a Zimbabwean entrepreneur, politician and the widow of the late President Robert Mugabe. She served as the First Lady of Zimbabwe from 1996 until her husband's resignation in November 2017, a week after he was ousted from power. Starting as a secretary to Mugabe, she rose in the ranks of the ruling ZANU–PF party to become the head of its Women's League and a key figure in the Generation 40 faction. At the same time, she gained a reputation for privilege and extravagance during a period of economic turmoil in the country.Utton, Dominic (16 November 2017) " Grace Mugabe: Typist who became the wicked power behind Mugabe’s throne is gone" Daily Express She was given the nickname Gucci Grace due to her extravagance. She was expelled from the party, with other G40 members, during the 2017 Zimbabwean coup d'état.
Mugabe was cited as one of the Top 100 most influential Africans by New African magazine in 2014.
She married air force pilot Stanley GorerazaNow Defence Attaché at the Zimbabwean Embassy in China and they had a son, Russell Goreraza, born in 1984 when Grace was 19 years old.
Whilst working as secretary to the president, Robert Mugabe, she became his mistress at a time when she was still married to Stanley Goreraza – and had two children, Bona Mugabe born in 1988, named after Mugabe's mother, and Robert Peter Jr.
After the death of Mugabe's first wife, Sally Hayfron, the couple were married in an extravagant Catholic mass titled the "Wedding of the Century" by the Zimbabwe press. At the time of their marriage, Grace Marufu was 31 and Robert Mugabe was 72 years old.
Their second child, Robert Mugabe Jr, was born in the early 1990s. In 1997, she gave birth to the couple's third child, Chatunga Berlamine Mugabe.
Grace Mugabe enrolled as an undergraduate student at the School of Liberal Arts, Renmin University in China in 2007, studying the Chinese language. She graduated in 2011. She admitted, however, that she was not proficient in Chinese after finishing the degree. 津巴布韦总统夫人格蕾丝•穆加贝人民大学毕业 获文学学士学位 Renmin University Her mother Idah Marufu died on 31 August 2018, aged 84. Grace Mugabe’s mom dies
Meanwhile, Grace Mugabe's political prominence increased. She was nominated as head of the ZANU–PF Women's League, and delegates to the party congress approved her nomination by acclamation on 6 December 2014. In becoming head of the women's league, she also became a member of the ZANU-PF Politburo. Since 2016, the first lady's involvement in ZANU-PF in-house politics has seen rumours pointing out that she is fronting one of the party's secretive factions, the G40 (Generation 40). "Team Lacoste vs G40: ED 'poisoning' triggers vicious fight". The Standard, 10 September 2017 The other faction, Lacoste, assumingly led by the Vice-President Emmerson Mnangagwa. Factionalism in ZANU-PF at the time centered mainly on the Mugabe succession question.
The feud between Grace Mugabe and Mnangagwa reached a tipping point in late September 2017, with both parties pointing fingers to each other on ZANU PF public gatherings. While addressing an audience at Mahofa's memorial service, Mnangagwa claimed he was poisoned at a ZANU PF Youth Interface rally in Gwanda. "Mnangagwa admits he was poisoned". Bulawayo 24 News, 3 October 2017 Soon after Mnangagwa's remarks, President Robert Mugabe called a shock cabinet reshuffle in what many believe to be power-shifting exercise. Mnangagwa, like fellow suspected allies, lost the justice ministry. October 2017 marked Grace Mugabe's peak political influence in ZANU PF.
In November 2017, Grace was instrumental in the firing of the then Vice-President, Emmerson Mnangagwa, after reprimanding him for causing divisions in Zanu PF. Shortly thereafter, Grace expressed her intentions of taking up the Vice-Presidency post. The country was in heightened tension and soon after that while Emmerson Mnangagwa had sought refuge outside of Zimbabwe, the military took over in a bloodless coup under General Constantino Chiwenga. Grace Mugabe was notably invisible at this time with various reports of her whereabouts. On 19 November, Grace Mugabe and 20 of her associates were expelled from the ZANU-PF. When Robert Mugabe died on 6 September 2019, both Mugabes were in Singapore.
In 2002, Grace Mugabe toured farm properties in Zimbabwe, looking for a new location for herself and her family. She chose the Iron Mask Estate, which had been previously owned by farmers John and Eva Matthews.
The family owns property in Malaysia, and in early 2008, it was reported that Grace Mugabe hoped to move there with her children. The intention behind the move was to escape the stress of leadership and to address fears that the first family faces assassination. She also acquired property holdings in Hong Kong, including a diamond cutting business and a property at Tai Po, New Territories. IOL news speculated that this property acquisition was intended as both a weekend getaway for their daughter, Bona, who was studying at the University of Hong Kong under an assumed name, and that she and her husband expect to escape to China should they be ousted from power in Zimbabwe. Legislators of the pro-democracy movement urged the Hong Kong government to study whether to follow international practice in barring certain foreign politicians as many people might be looking at buying properties, investments, or education in Hong Kong. Lee Wing-tat said Beijing should be making the decision since this was a foreign affair. Spokesperson Jiang Yu from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China said she was not aware of the Mugabes' alleged house purchase in Hong Kong and would not comment further. A professor at the University of Hong Kong said Beijing was trying to stay out of the controversy. The Beijing central government dismissed the concerns, adding that Falun Gong members were allowed to buy properties in Hong Kong.
It was reported in 2015 that Zimbabwe was involved in a legal dispute over the ownership of the property in Tai Po in which Bona Mugabe had stayed whilst a student in Hong Kong. The property had been acquired in June 2008 through a company controlled by Taiwanese-born South African businessman Hsieh Ping-sung for HK$40 million ($5.14 million) and transferred into his own name in 2010. The Mugabes allege that the villa belonged to the Zimbabwean government, while Hsieh, who was once a Mugabe confidant, claims there was no question that the house belonged to him.
In August 2017, while visiting South Africa to treat an ankle injury, Grace is said to have assaulted a 20-year-old model, Gabriella Engels, and two friends, who were in the company of her two younger sons, Robert Jr. and Chatunga, at a hotel in Sandton, Johannesburg. It is alleged that Grace hit the women and her sons, with an extension cord, causing various injuries including a deep gash on Engels' forehead. This was after accusing the women of living with her sons. After charges were laid by Engels for "assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm", Grace was due to appear at a Johannesburg court on 15 August 2017, but failed to do so; she was subsequently granted diplomatic immunity. After President Robert Mugabe got deposed by Emmerson Mnangagwa, Gabriella Engels posted a tweet vowing revenge on Grace Mugabe. On 30 July 2018, the South African High Court stripped Grace of her diplomatic immunity and allowed the case involving her assault against Engels to proceed.
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