THE ravaging COVID-19 pandemic has blocked police investigators from travelling to South Africa to hunt for evidence linking Marry Mubaiwa to charges of attempting to murder her now estranged husband Vice President Constantino Chiwenga, a Harare court heard Friday.
Mubaiwa is facing attempted murder, money laundering, and fraud charges.
She was arrested last December.
The State alleges Mubaiwa attempted to kill Chiwenga when he was critically ill in South Africa last year before he was flown to China for further treatment.
However, prosecutor Progress Maringamoyo said the State intended to carry out investigations in South Africa but the ravaging COVID-19 pandemic had stalled progress.
“The State is making an application for a postponement of the attempted murder case and money laundering to July 31,” Maringamoyo said.
“The reason we are seeking a postponement is because we intend to carry out extraterritorial investigations in South Africa and we haven’t been able to do so due to the outbreak of COVID-19 which has seen all countries switching to a lockdown.
“We are hoping that by end of July things will be better and we will be in a position to start our investigations,” said Maringamoyo.
Magistrate Trynos Utahwashe postponed the case to July 31 with consent from Mubaiwa who was self-acting.
