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Royal family welcomes dismissal of Winnie’s Qunu application

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Winnie Mandela. Photo by Halden Krog
Winnie Mandela. Photo by Halden Krog

The AbaThembu royal family has welcomed the Mthatha High Court’s dismissal of the application by Winnie Madikizela-Mandela regarding Nelson Mandela’s Qunu property.

Judge Zamani Nhlangulela, who dismissed the application with costs, spent a few seconds delivering the judgment this morning on behalf of three high court judges who had sat for the proceedings on February 29 and March 1.

“The application is dismissed. The applicant [Madikizela-Mandela] is ordered to pay the costs of the first respondent [executors of estate late Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela] and third respondent [minister of land affairs],” Nhlangulela said.

There was no indication whether Madikizela-Mandela’s lawyer Mvuzo Notyesi – recently appointed to the Judicial Services Commission by President Jacob Zuma, who was the fourth respondent in this case – would appeal the decision. Notyesi was not immediately available to comment.

Madikizela-Mandela had used customary law arguments that because lobola had not been returned to Mandela after they divorced in 1996, they were therefore still married according to culture.

The application was opposed by the executors of Madiba’s estate, including deputy judge president Dikgang Moseneke, Eastern Cape judge president Themba Sangoni and advocate George Bizos SC.

The AbaThembu royal family said they would use the judgment as a “frame of reference for learning purposes because we are guided by custom, tradition and trends”.

“This matter should have been addressed by the Mandela royal family and, if there was no agreement, elevated to the royal family of the kingdom of AbaThembu. We are aware of the tasks that are before us in aligning procedures and processes to address challenges that the sister royal houses might be facing.”

They added that, even though Madikizela-Mandela lost the case in court, she remained a member of the Mandela royal family by virtue of her former marriage and her Mandela children. “However, she must respect our traditions and the functioning of the traditional royal structures.”

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