South Africa's
government has opposed a legal bid by Winnie Madikizela-Mandela to claim
ownership of her ex-husband Nelson Mandela's rural home, in an ongoing dispute over his
estate.
In court papers, Mrs
Madikizela-Mandela said that South Africa's first black president had
unlawfully registered the property in his name,
Mr Mandela died nearly
a year ago, and left his ex-wife out of his will. His estate was
provisionally valued at 46 million rand ($4.3m; £2.5m). Continue..
The thrice-married Mr
Mandela divorced Mrs Madikizela-Mandela in 1996.
The two were South
Africa's most celebrated political couple until their marriage collapsed after
38 years.
'Land
fraud'
Mrs Madikizela-Mandela
launched court action in October, saying she had "customary rights"
to the rural home they once shared in Qunu village.
She says Mr Mandela
may have committed land fraud when he registered the property in his name, the
South African Press Association (Sapa) reports.
In papers filed in the
Mthatha High Court last month, she said the ex-president had incorrectly used
part of the State Land Disposal Act bydonating the land to himself, according
to the local Dispatch newspaper.
'Large
family'
Her lawyers want Mr
Zuma and the Department of Rural Development to produce official records
proving the property belonged to Mr Mandela, including the validity of the
title deed, local media reports say.
She wants the
registration of the property under Mr Mandela's name to be annulled by the
court, the Dispatch reports.
In response, Mr Zuma's
spokesman Mac Maharaj said that the stateattorney had filed a legal notice
to oppose the action, pending instructions from the president.
Mrs
Madikizela-Mandela's lawyer Mvuzo Notyesi told the Dispatch that he was
confident of their case.
"That is a completely
irregular notice. We are told there is a notice. They cannot file a notice to
oppose before they furnish us with the required information. It is completely
premature and totally irrelevant," Mr Notyesi is quoted as saying.
In his
will, the ex-president said: "The Qunu property should be used by my
family in perpetuity in order to preserve the unity of the Mandela
family."
Mrs
Madikizela-Mandela believes the property is rightfully hers and says that it
was given to her by abaThembu King Buyelekhaya Dalindyebo while Mr Mandela was
in prison for his role in fighting white minority rule.
Mr
Mandela was released in 1990 after 27 years in jail and became South Africa's
first democratically elected president in 1994.
His
large family - which includes grandchildren and great grandchildren - was hit
by legal disputes over his wealth and burial site as he battled a recurring
lung infection in the months leading to his death at the age of 95.
He was
married to Graca Machel, the wife of Mozambique's late President Samora Machel,
at the time of his death.
Mr
Mandela has one surviving child, Makaziwe, from his first marriage to the late
Evelyn Mase and two daughters, Zinzi and Zenani, from his marriage to Mrs
Madikizela-Mandela.
No comments:
Post a Comment