Durban - Winnie Madikizela-Mandela’s court bid to stop a meeting planned to discuss issues dividing the Mandela family has hit a snag.
The Mthatha High Court on Tuesday struck the matter from the roll in a move her lawyer has described as a setback.
Judge Zamani Nhlangulela said not everything was in order with the application, citing the omission of some executors (certain family members) of Nelson Mandela’s estate.
Madikizela-Mandela had sought the order to prevent Mandla Mandela and the AbaThembu royal family from holding a meeting at the Mandela family’s Qunu home on Friday.
The issues that were to have been discussed at the meeting include Madikizela-Mandela’s claim of ownership of the house, his widow Graça Machel’s position in the family and who should be its head in the absence of Madiba.
Also to have been discussed, according to the royal household, was the recent slaughter of a cow by Mandla’s younger brother, Ndaba, to mark the end of the mourning period for Mandela, that was done without informing the elders, or Mandla as tradition requires.
Mvuzo Notyesi, Madikizela-Mandela’s lawyer, said striking the application off the roll was a setback for them.
“The judge ruled that in the absence of all the executors in the application, the matter could not stand.
“Now I’m trying to beat the time and we will have to send the papers back to court before the scheduled meeting,” he said.
“I’m working on the application as we speak.”
According to Notyesi, Madikizela-Mandela was not consulted when the meeting was planned last month.
He said by calling a meeting at the house, Mandla, cited as the first respondent and his ally Daludumo Mtirara, second respondent, would be “invading” the property as they did not reside there, nor were they in charge of the homestead.
City Press online reported that Madikizela-Mandela had argued that should the meeting go ahead, there could be violence and damage to property as sources who were present when the meeting was planned had commented that the situation was volatile.
Mtirara said they were not concerned about speculation that there could be violence at the meeting.
“We are happy with this outcome and would also like to highlight that this matter was not even supposed to have been taken to court.
“We hope that this is indication enough that whatever differences we might have can be handled within our traditional bounds, without running to the court,” he said.
It is not clear when exactly Madikizela-Mandela and her team will be returning to court again to file fresh papers.
Daily News