Legalbrief | your legal news hub Wednesday 29 September 2021

Mandela bodies exhumed on court order

Mandla Mandela lost his 'frivolous' attempt yesterday to rescind a court decision compelling him to move the remains of his grandfather's children from Mvezo to .

Earlier, the court upheld an order made last week compelling former President 's grandson to return the remains of Mandela's children to Qunu, notes a report on the IoL site. He exhumed and moved the graves from Qunu to Mvezo, where he holds the chieftainship, in 2011. The graves are those of Mandela's eldest son Madiba Thembekile, who died in a car accident in 1969; 's father , who died in 2005; and Mandela's first daughter , who died as an infant in 1948. Mandela family members approached the court to have the bodies exhumed and moved back to the family graveyard in Qunu (the exhumation took place last night). In an affidavit, the family members said the apartheid struggle icon's health was 'perilous', and that his physician would provide the court with a statement that he was 'breathing by a life support machine'. 'The anticipation of his impending death is based on real and substantial grounds,' Mandela's eldest daughter Makaziwe Mandela and the other family members said. 'The applicants wish to commit Mr Nelson Mandela's body to the ground when his descendants' bones are already interred in the ground, and will lie alongside them,' they said. 'They do not want the full-blown, opposed motion to be heard while they wait to bury their father and grandfather.' Full report on the IoL site

Earlier, Mandla Mandela's actions were described as 'scandalous' by Judge Lusindiso Pakade. Mandla Mandela had been given the opportunity to be heard in court, but only raised 'irrelevant issues', the judge said, according to a report in The Citizen. Mandla claimed that according to custom he should be allowed to decide where his grandfather was buried, notes a report in The Herald. But Pakade said Mandla's submissions were 'irrelevant', 'scandalous' and 'vexatious'. After the hearing, Mandla's spokesperson reportedly said he had 'no issue' with the remains being moved but objected 'strenuously' to the way the court action was apparently sprung on him while he was at his grandfather's 'sick bed'. Provincial Health Department spokesman Sizwe Kupelo said yesterday they were now investigating Mandla for not following the proper procedures for the exhumations. Full report in The Citizen Full report in The Herald (subscription needed)

Mandla Mandela had turned to what the Daily Dispatch describes as one of the finest legal minds in the Eastern Cape to help his cause. He instructed Advocate Phillip Zilwa to oppose the motion brought by Advocate David Smith, for the Mandela family. Described as a 'fierce arguer', Zilwa has years of experience behind him and was an evidence leader in the Pillay Commission of Inquiry into the finances of the Eastern Cape provincial administration. He has worked as a Regional Court prosecutor, a state advocate and an advocate in private practice. Zilwa was admitted to the Bar years ago and occasionally acts as a judge in High Courts, notes the report. Advocate Dumisa Ntsebeza SC, who also sits on the Farlam Commission investigating the Marikana massacre, said Zilwa was popular among his peers as a prompt and punctual prosecutor back in the day. 'He has dealt with a number of complex cases. He has distinguished himself. He is a well-rounded lawyer who does civil and criminal matters,' Ntsebeza said. Another peer, Advocate Lwazi Kubukeli, described Zilwa as a 'fierce arguer'. 'He has a sharp brain and can think on his feet. Full Daily Dispatch report (subscription needed)