News / Africa
Remains of Mandela children exhumed
03 Jul 2013 at 20:08hrs | Views
The remains of three of Nelson Mandela's children have been exhumed from a property belonging to his grandson, Mandla Mandela, police say.
They have been taken from Mvezo in South Africa's Eastern Cape Province to a funeral parlour in nearby Mthatha.
It comes hours after a court ruled the remains should be removed for reburial in a nearby family graveyard.
Mandla moved the remains in 2011, allegedly without the family's consent.
A court last Friday granted 16 members of the Mandela family an order for the remains to be exhumed and moved from Mandla Mandela's homestead in Mvezo, the former president's birthplace, to nearby Qunu, 22km (14 miles) away.
But Mandla Mandela, who was appointed as chief of Mvezo by his grandfather, went to court to challenge it.
On Wednesday, the Mthatha High Court confirmed its initial decision and said the exhumations should take place - despite an appeal lodged by Mandla Mandela, which reports said the High Court refused to hear.
Police arrived at his property on Wednesday afternoon accompanied by Mr Mandela's daughter Makiziwe, the BBC's Gringo Wotshela in Mvezo reports, breaking down the gates with an axe.
The remains are those of Makgatho Mandela, Mandla's father who died from Aids-related diseases in 2005, and Makgatho's siblings, Thembekile, who was killed in a car accident in 1969, and Makaziwe, Nelson Mandela's first daughter, who died when she was nine months old.
They have been taken from Mvezo in South Africa's Eastern Cape Province to a funeral parlour in nearby Mthatha.
It comes hours after a court ruled the remains should be removed for reburial in a nearby family graveyard.
Mandla moved the remains in 2011, allegedly without the family's consent.
A court last Friday granted 16 members of the Mandela family an order for the remains to be exhumed and moved from Mandla Mandela's homestead in Mvezo, the former president's birthplace, to nearby Qunu, 22km (14 miles) away.
But Mandla Mandela, who was appointed as chief of Mvezo by his grandfather, went to court to challenge it.
On Wednesday, the Mthatha High Court confirmed its initial decision and said the exhumations should take place - despite an appeal lodged by Mandla Mandela, which reports said the High Court refused to hear.
Police arrived at his property on Wednesday afternoon accompanied by Mr Mandela's daughter Makiziwe, the BBC's Gringo Wotshela in Mvezo reports, breaking down the gates with an axe.
The remains are those of Makgatho Mandela, Mandla's father who died from Aids-related diseases in 2005, and Makgatho's siblings, Thembekile, who was killed in a car accident in 1969, and Makaziwe, Nelson Mandela's first daughter, who died when she was nine months old.
Source - BBC
