OPINION

"Mandela bodies dug up!" - Daily Sun

The front page and lead story of SA's largest daily newspaper, July 4 2013

Daily Sun (July 4 2013) - MANDLA Mandela's final bid to have the court ruling overturned has not materialised . . . And Madiba's daughter, Makaziwe, is relieved that the remains of her siblings will be moved to Qunu. WHEN MY FATHER DIES, HIS BONES WILL SHAKE IF HE IS NOT BURIED IN QUNU, SHE SAID.

This is what Makaziwe told a New York Times reporter outside the court after Judge Lusindiso Pakade dismissed Mandla's application to reverse the interdict ordering him to return the bodies to Qunu. In his judgment, which lasted 30 minutes, Judge Pakade described Mandla's behaviour as scandalous and vicious.

As members of the sheriff's office were breaking open the entrance to Mandla's Mvezo Great House, Mandla had reportedly gone to another court to have the order reversed. The media was not allowed to enter the property as an entourage of Mercedes-Benz GLs and a limousine hearse from Mthatha- based Titi Funerals drove through the gates.

The remains of three of former president Nelson Mandela's children, who were buried in Mvezo, were found yesterday evening, Eastern Cape police said. "All three's remains have been found and have been put into the different hearses," police spokesperson Lieutenant-Colonel Mzukisi Fatyela said.

"They were found in the same area but they were unmarked." He said the remains were being taken to a mortuary.

They would be taken for forensic testing after 9am today and would only then be transported to Qunu for reburial, he said. The entourage carrying three Mandela family members and their lawyer Wesley Hayes was accompanied by cops from Mthatha and the sheriff.

The family has brought the court action against Mandla who had exhumed the bodies from Qunu and buried them in Mvezo, where he is the chief. Mandla hit back after he lost the case, saying he was unhappy with the way the matter was handled by the court.

"In the past few days, Mandla has had a lot of allegations and dirt thrown in his direction," the lawyer said. Mandla's application was dismissed after his lawyer, Phillip Zilwa, argued that Mandla was not served with the papers correctly and that the family had not signed and included their residential addresses.

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