Daily Sun (July 1 2013) - AS NELSON Mandela lay critically ill in hospital yesterday, his grandson Mandla was defying the family. Mandla's lawyer said he would challenge a court order against him today. A ROW OVER THE BURIAL SITES OF MADIBA'S LATE CHILDREN FLARED AS PEOPLE GATHERED TO PRAY FOR THE BELOVED STATESMAN! Judge Lusindiso Pakade granted an order on Friday to stop Mandla interfering with the reburial of the three children.
This is expected to take place in the next few days. The judge granted a temporary order when 16 members of Madiba's family made an urgent application on Friday. They asked him to order Mandla not to stop them moving the bodies from Mvezo to the family gravesite in Qunu. Mandla had the bodies dug up at Qunu in 2011 and moved to Mvezo, Madiba's birthplace.
The family brought the application against Mandla, Eastern Cape Premier Noxolo Kiviet and Health MEC Sicelo Gqobana. Judge Pakade ordered Mandla to pay the costs of the hearing. Mandla wasn't at the hearing in the judge's chambers. In a statement yesterday, Mandla said: "The way we are handling this matter is contrary to our customs and a deep disappointment to my grandfather and his ancestors." He said he was "regrettably and reluctantly" compelled to go to court and respond to the action taken against him.
Advocate Matthew Mpahlwa, Mandla's lawyer, told the City Press newspaper that a court motion would be filed today, on the basis that Mvezo was the right place for the remains of the three children. Mandla expressed disappointment yesterday that family members had taken an intricate family matter to court. "It is important at all times that we as a family avoid actions and decisions that will infringe on the dignity of my grandfather," he said.
"When I was installed as the chief of the Mvezo in 2007, 70 years after the Mandela chieftaincy was taken away from us, my grandfather warned me that the task of being a custodian of our customs and culture and the responsibility to preserve these would not be an easy one. "I promised him then to do everything in my power to be a guardian of this culture, and to work hard to facilitate development for the people of Mvezo, one of the poorest communities in the Eastern Cape."
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