A group of AbaThembu elders is preparing to fly to Gauteng to assess a critically ill Nelson Mandela and decide “what to do”.
The Times has learnt that at an urgent meeting called by Mandela’s eldest daughter, Makaziwe, at his home in Qunu in the Eastern Cape yesterday, it was decided that the elders and Mandela’s confidants would visit the former president in the Mediclinic Heart Hospital in Pretoria.
According to a CBS News report, the former statesman – who has been in the hospital for 18 days with a lung infection – was ”unresponsive and has not opened his eyes for days”.
One of the local chiefs said Mandela spokesman Nkosi Bhekizulu Mnqanqeni and possibly Nkosi Bhovulengwe Mfundo Mtirara would be among the elders who would assess Mandela.
They are likely to fly to Johannesburg today and head straight to Mandela’s bedside.
Family elder Napilisi Mandela confirmed they would discuss delicate matters.
A chief said: “They want to visit Tata himself and discuss what should be done.”
Last night, Nkosi Mtirara would say only that yesterday’s gathering was “a family meeting”.
But The Times understands that this meeting, the first of its kind, focused not only on Mandela’s health but also on the moving of family graves from Qunu to Mvezo in 2011. The graves were moved by Mandela’s grandson, Chief Mandla Mandela.
Vehicles transporting family members also visited the guarded burial site. The entourage spent almost 30 minutes looking around before moving back to the house.
The meeting adjourned at 12.30pm and the family was rushed back to the airport.
There was, however, little activity at Mvezo Great Place yesterday, other than the installation of a new steel gate at the entrance. – timeslive.co.za