President Emmerson Mnangagwa and his deputy Constantino Chiwenga greet supporters of his ZANU PF party at a rally in Murombedzi, Zimbabwe November 24, 2018. REUTERS/Philimon Bulawayo/File Photo

The wife of Zimbabwe's vice president has been charged with attempting to murder her husband.

Marry Chiwenga, a former model and wife of vice president Constantino Chiwenga, appeared at Harare Magistrates Court on Monday where she was also charged with money laundering and fraud.

Wearing a floral dress, she waved to journalists as she entered the court's holding cells. The magistrate ordered that she remain in custody pending a bail hearing.

She is accused of trying to kill her husband in South Africa in July.

First, she tried to deny medical treatment to Mr Chiwenga by insisting he stay at a hotel instead of a hospital when he was flown to South Africa for emergency medical treatment, according to the charge sheet.

Security officers later took Mr Chiwenga to hospital, according to the charge sheet.

She allegedly went to the hospital on July 8, asked security to leave the room and "while alone" with Mr Chiwenga, she "unlawfully removed the medical intravenous drip as well as a central venous catheter", causing Mr Chiwenga to bleed profusely, according to the charge sheet.

She forced her husband off the hospital bed and tried to lead him out of the ward before being intercepted by his security details, said the charges.

Mr Chiwenga later went to China where he received medical treatment for four months and he returned to Zimbabwe in November.

On his return from China, Mr Chiwenga said he was suffering from "idiopathic oesophageal stricture".

Marry Chiwenga is also accused of laundering about £750,000 to neighbouring South Africa by pretending to pay for goods that were never brought into Zimbabwe, according to the charges.

She was seen as close to her husband before and immediately after he led the military to force the late former president, Robert Mugabe, to resign in 2017.

She faded from the limelight as she and her husband began to suffer ill-health, both with visibly swollen hands. She has not been seen in public with Mr Chiwenga since he returned from China in November.

President Emmerson Mnangagwa has described fighting corruption as a top priority since assuming power in 2017.

But critics and the opposition say the anti-corruption commission is mainly targeting people viewed as dissenters.

PA Media