Mandela Family Remains 'Must Be Exhumed'

By Robert Nisbet, Sky News Correspondent

Nelson Mandela's eldest grandson has lost his appeal against a court order to return the remains of three relatives to a graveyard where the former president was raised.

Mandla Mandela, who is the chief of the Mvezo Traditional Council, had exhumed the bodies of his father and two other children of the ailing icon without seeking permission from other relatives.

He put the remains in three graves near a visitor centre and complex he is building in the Eastern Cape where Nelson Mandela was born.

The relatives argue he moved the bodies to establish a family cemetery at the development - which could eventually include the grave of Nelson Mandela - in order to attract paying tourists.

After Judge Lusindiso Pakade made the ruling, one of the lawyers for the Mandela family was heard saying outside court: "The hearse is on the way."

Mandela's daughter Makaziwe (L), grandson Ndaba and granddaughter Ndileka

The court has said Mandla, the chief of the clan and Mandela's official heir, must exhume the bodies by 3pm on Wednesday, or a sheriff would be sent to Qunu to carry out the task.

The grandson's legal team launched an immediate appeal, saying the chief did not have enough time to explain his side of the story to the court and called for a mediator to be appointed, to avoid unwanted publicity.

Mandela's eldest daughter Makaziwe Mandela, her nephew Ndaba Mandela, and niece Ndileka Mandela were in court to observe proceedings.

The graves are those of Mandela's eldest son, Mandla Mandela's father, Makgatho Mandela, who died in 2005; Mandela's first daughter Makaziwe Mandela, who died as an infant in 1948; and Mandela's second son Madiba Thembekile, who died in a car accident in 1969.

The family dispute comes as the 94-year-old anti-apartheid leader remains critically ill in a Pretoria hospital.  

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