Feuds, spats, name dropping and shocking revelations… while the ailing Nelson Mandela fights for his life in a Pretoria hospital his family were fighting their own dirty battle in court.
Makaziwe Mandela and Mvezo traditional council chief Mandla Zwelivelile Mandela, in particular, locked horns over where the world icon elder will be buried and Mandla’s grave-robbing expedition of other relatives, including his own father’s remains.
But an anthropology expert has warned South Africans to brace themselves for more bitter battles and even faction formations within the family in the future.
This week, Independent Newspapers looked at the Mandela fallout between an aunt and her nephew, and asks the question: who is really in charge?
Wits University head of anthropology Professor Robert Thornton explained that succession and authority in all South African tribes was governed by principles rather than rules.
“Every chieftainship in South Africa is contested. For every king who has multiple wives, the first wife is the chief wife unless special circumstances arise. In such instances the community pays ‘lobola’ for a formal succession. An official wife is someone who has been designated by those who deem her fit to be the superior wife,” he said.
Makaziwe is Nelson Mandela’s only remaining child from his first marriage with Evelyn Ntoko Maseko. Her three siblings have died. Mandla is the eldest son of the late Makgatho Mandela, Mandela’s youngest son with Evelyn and Makaziwe’s brother.
Thornton described the clash between Makaziwe and Mandla as a classic anthropology lineage exercise.
“Maki is the eldest daughter of the first wife and clearly should be in the driving seat under one principle. But under another, Mandla as a chief has some form of authority.”
Thornton added there were several levels of conflict involved in the current feud.
“First, gender. She (Maki) is a woman and he (Mandla) is a man. Maki is claiming authority as the eldest daughter of the first wife, notwithstanding that she is a woman. Although most women are to submit under a chief, she’s asserted herself as a modern businesswoman and represents the modernist, feminist and cosmopolitan era.
“It’s only natural that she has relied on the judiciary system to make her claim. Mandla, on the other hand, represents the rural elite. He stayed on the farm, is the eldest male in the family and is seen and respected by those who follow him as chief.”
Makaziwe last week approached the Mthatha High Court asking that the remains of her father’s children be moved back to his homestead in Qunu. She said in court papers this was in keeping with Nelson Mandela’s wish to be buried in Qunu alongside his late children, Thembekile Mandela, Makaziwe Mandela senior and Mandla’s father, Makgatho.
Their remains were exhumed and moved by Mandla from Qunu to Mandela’s birthplace in Mvezo in 2011.
A defiant Makaziwe, supported by 16 other family members, including Mandela’s wife Graça Machel, won her case and the remains were exhumed from Mvezo and reburied in Qunu.
However, Mandla hit back, saying he had the right to determine where his father is buried.
Thornton highlighted that the question of burial had to do with land claim.
“Why would he (Mandla) move those bodies to Mvezo in the first place? It has to do with underwriting his legitimacy. As long as one has family buried on their land it is rightfully theirs. It has to do with land restitution, which ascertains who has the right to claim land. Mandla became aware of this in the past when no one else did.”
Mandla’s legitimacy as chief has not gone without question. The man, who is now seen as the black sheep of the family, is said to be an illegitimate chief by elders because he had disrespected the family by disturbing the graves of Mandela’s children.
Mandla also faced controversy when it emerged he had sold the TV rights of his grandfather’s funeral to the SABC for R3 million. He has vehemently denied this.
Thornton further explained that a will and testament was not an African concept. “I’m not fully aware if Mandela has a clear will and testament drawn up or not. But such documents are not an African concept. In African customs, when you die your spirit becomes an ancestry issue. In Western law, the idea is that the dead person has control over who gets the assets.”
Thornton believes the Mandela family feud paves the way for much more generational conflict.
“Somebody is definitely going to blame this unravelling feud on any major disaster that befalls the family from now on. This also ultimately means that someone might fall ill because of the ancestors’ spirits being angered.” - Pretoria News