{"id":6664,"date":"2013-07-04T08:05:36","date_gmt":"2013-07-04T08:05:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/praag.org\/?p=6664"},"modified":"2013-07-04T08:08:18","modified_gmt":"2013-07-04T08:08:18","slug":"mandelas-grave-the-money-spinner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/praag.org\/?p=6664","title":{"rendered":"Mandela’s grave, the money-spinner"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"In<\/a>
In 2010 Mvezo was still the Holy Grail<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Nelson Mandela\u2019s grandson, Mandla Mandela, has prepared part of his homestead – the multimillion-rand Mvezo Great Place – as a place of pilgrimage for people keen to see the ailing statesman\u2019s grave.<\/p>\n

This was the argument in an affidavit signed by 16 Mandela relatives, including his eldest daughter, Makaziwe, his wife Gra\u00e7a Machel and his ex-wife Winnie Madikizela Mandela, in an application to the Eastern Cape High Court in Mthatha.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Mandla \u201cconstructed buildings\u201d at Mvezo Great Place, hoping Nelson Mandela would be buried at Mvezo and not in Qunu.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe first respondent (Mandla) wants to force the burial of Mr Nelson Mandela, when the time should come, at a place of the first respondent\u2019s choosing. By securing the remains of Mr Mandela\u2019s family, the first respondent hopes to secure the remains as to Mandela himself,\u201d the family\u2019s affidavit read.<\/p>\n

Mandla established their remains in Mvezo, knowing Nelson Mandela wanted to be buried close to these remains, the family said.<\/p>\n

That would enable Mandla to make money from Nelson Mandela\u2019s death and benefit from his \u201cillegal removal\u201d of the graves.<\/p>\n

He planned to derive income generated by visitors to Nelson Mandela\u2019s gravesite, the affidavit said.<\/p>\n

The attempt to have Mandela buried at Mveza would have \u201cundermined\u201d his wishes.<\/p>\n

It was likely that the place of his burial would be a much-visited heritage site, and it was \u201cconceivable that such a heritage site has a high potential to generate monetary gain\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cIndeed, there is evidence to suggest the first respondent (Mandla) has already begun preparations at The Great Place, Mvezo, inclusive of the construction of buildings in furtherance of such gain.\u201d<\/p>\n

The family urged the court not to allow Mandla to \u201cprofit from his unlawful activity\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe remains of the three deceased in question must be returned in all haste to their lawful resting place.\u201d<\/p>\n

It has been reported by various newspapers during the past week that Mvezo Great Place has been upgraded to the tune of millions of rands.<\/p>\n

In 2010, however all roads led to Mvezo, birthplace of Nelson Mandela, on July 18, where President Jacob Zuma and Madiba\u2019s grandson, Chief Zwelivelile Mandela, led scores of people in the official national celebration of Nelson Mandela Day, on the great man\u2019s 92nd birthday. Madiba, himself, spent the day in Johannesburg with family.<\/p>\n

While several thousand local residents of surrounding villages made the trek to Mvezo on foot, reminiscent of a fan walk during the recently concluded Fifa 2010 World Cup, the gleaming cars of dignitaries \u2013 1000 VIPs were expected \u2013 snaked along the pitted dirt road that leads from the N2 Highway, about 40 kilometres south of Mthatha.<\/p>\n

Those present included Minister of Arts and Culture, Lulu Xingwana, AbaThembu King Buyelekhaya Dalindyebo, ANC Chief Whip, Mathole Motshekga, head of the UDM, Bantu Holomisa, DA parliamentary leader, Athol Trollip. the President\u2019s wife, Thobeka Madiba, and Chief Mandela\u2019s wife, Anais Grimaud. – Oryxmedia\/Cape Argus<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Nelson Mandela\u2019s grandson, Mandla Mandela, has prepared part of his homestead – the multimillion-rand Mvezo Great Place – as a place of pilgrimage for people keen to see the ailing statesman\u2019s grave. This was the argument in an affidavit signed by 16 Mandela relatives, including his eldest daughter, Makaziwe, his wife Gra\u00e7a Machel and his … Continue reading “Mandela’s grave, the money-spinner”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6665,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,4],"tags":[3701,3700,3695],"class_list":["post-6664","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-south-africa","tag-mandela-family-feud","tag-mandela-grave","tag-mvezo"],"cc_featured_image_caption":{"caption_text":false,"source_text":false,"source_url":false},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/praag.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/mvezo92.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/praag.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6664","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/praag.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/praag.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/praag.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/praag.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6664"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/praag.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6664\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6667,"href":"https:\/\/praag.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6664\/revisions\/6667"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/praag.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/6665"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/praag.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6664"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/praag.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6664"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/praag.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6664"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}