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| Winnie Madikizela-Mandela |
Just one year after his death, Nelson Mandela’s controversial
ex-wife Winnie is launching a vicious legal battle, saying the former South
African president swindled her out of her rightful inheritance – 250 acres of
his ancestral homeland that includes his final resting place. In a lawsuit that
exposes the bitter rancour within the Mandela family and challenges the former
South African President’s will, 78-year-old Winnie Madikizela-Mandela claims
that the land in Qunu was given to her when they were still married and that he
had no right to secretly transfer the homestead into his own name.
Accusing Mandela of ‘land fraud’ and ‘betrayal’, the case
will inflame tensions right to the top of the country’s ruling party, the
African National Congress (ANC).
Last week, launching her legal bid to have the land returned
to her, she claimed the transfer to Mandela was carried out ‘under a cloud of
darkness and secrets’ and that, although she expected nothing from his will,
she did not expect to be cheated out of what was ‘rightfully’ hers.
With a special cleansing ritual held on the anniversary of
Mandela’s death two weeks ago, the customary year-long period of silent
mourning came to an end, freeing Winnie to speak out. Expressing for the first
time her shock and sadness over the terms of his will, she told The Mail on
Sunday that she and her daughters felt ‘betrayed’.
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| Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, second from left, pays her respects at the graveside of her ex-husband in Qunu |
‘I believe they are as shocked as I am to hear of this
betrayal,’ she said at her home in Soweto, Johannesburg.
‘I will submit evidence that shows the transfer of ownership
was illegal and wrong. I still hope and pray it will not go to court, but if it
does it will become very ugly.’
Mrs Madikizela-Mandela is suing, among others, the executors,
the legal authorities, the Minister of Land Affairs and Graca Machel, Mandela’s
third wife and widow. She is even suing President Jacob Zuma because he tried
to block her application to see relevant documents in government archives.
The dispute centres around 250 acres of land in Qunu,
including the plot where Mandela is now buried under a black marble headstone.
Winnie, who was divorced in 1996 from the man credited with
forging the ‘Rainbow Nation’, claims that the land in Qunu was given to her
when they were still married and that he had no right to secretly transfer the
homestead into his own name.
Her lawyers say they have unearthed documents that show
Mandela approached tribal leaders at the time of his bitter split from Winnie,
persuading them to draw up new title deeds in his name.
‘I had no idea that he had done this,’ she said. ‘He used his
influence as former President to persuade the Ebotwe Tribal Authority to give
him ownership and he donated R150,000 [worth £15,000 at the time] to those who
helped him. The funds were supposed to be put in a trust, but my lawyers can
find no trace of it.
‘He went over the heads of the Qunu community who know the
land is mine and he bypassed the authority of King Buyelekhaya Dalindyebo who
personally allocated it to me.’
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