/ 30 June 2013

Mandla Mandela to challenge burial interdict

Mandla Mandela To Challenge Burial Interdict

"The way we are handling this matters is contrary to our customs and a deep disappointment to my grandfather and his ancestors," Mandla Mandela said in a statement on Sunday.

He said he was "regrettably and reluctantly" compelled to go to court and respond to the action taken against him.

On Friday, while the Nobel Peace Prize laureate lay critically ill in hospital, the Mthatha Magistrate's Court heard an urgent application by 16 people against Mandla Mandela.

The application was reportedly to have the remains of some of the former president's relatives moved from Mvezo to Qunu, and was also made against Eastern Cape premier Noxolo Kiviet and provincial health minister Sicelo Gqobana.

City Press reported that Judge Lusindiso Pakade issued an interim order on Friday afternoon interdicting Mandla Mandela from preventing the reburial and from interfering with the process, which was expected to be concluded in the next few days.

Mandla Mandela was also ordered to pay the legal costs of the hearing, which he did not attend.

His lawyer, advocate Matthew Mpahlwa, confirmed to the newspaper that he had decided to oppose the matter. A motion would be filed on Monday on the basis that the remains were in the right place in Mvezo, where Mandela was born.

'Dignity of my grandfather'

In his statement on Sunday, Mandla Mandela expressed disappointment that family members had chosen to turn to the courts to resolve intricate family matters.

"It is important at all times that we as a family avoid actions and decisions that will infringe on the dignity of my grandfather," he said.

"As the nation and the world continues to send their support and prayers, the family's efforts must be geared towards caring for him and to avoid putting his name in disrepute."

Mandla Mandela said he was determined not be drawn into conflicts which seemed to be geared towards narrow and short-term interests.

"When I was installed as the chief of Mvezo in 2007, 70 years after the Mandela chieftaincy was taken away from us, my grandfather warned me that the task of being a custodian of our customs and culture and the responsibility to preserve these will not be an easy one.

"I promised him then to do everything in my power to be a guardian of these cultures and to work hard to facilitate development for the people of Mvezo, one of the poorest communities in the Eastern Cape."

Meanwhile, the Sunday Times reported that elders from the Mandela family and local chiefs believed the former president's prolonged ill health could be attributed to the ancestors being angry with Mandla Mandela's actions relating to the reburials.

The elders reportedly feared that the ancestors could have "cursed" the Mandela family.

"Mandela's soul is not at peace. The ancestors will only be appeased once the remains of the Mandela family are reburied in Qunu. Only then will Tata be released," one of the chiefs told the newspaper.

Dr Nokuzola Mndende, academic and a diviner from the Icamagu Institute in Idutywa, said that in Xhosa culture, exhuming a body is a sacred act and specific rituals must be followed.

Mndende said the person who intended moving the body needed to consult the entire family and there must be agreement that the exhumation was necessary.

Mndende said the family would elect an elder who would speak to the ancestors at the grave to make them understand why their remains, along with their spirit, had to be be moved. "We believe that although dead, our loved ones' spirits are still very much alive and they can hear us. After the intimate talk with the ancestors, digging can begin."

At the new grave, the elder would again tell the ancestors why this was their rightful resting place. "Detaching spirits and bones from their place of rest without going through this ritual can have dire consequences for the entire family in the form of the wrath of the ancestors. This becomes a constant cloud over the family until things are done properly. The wrath of the ancestors manifests in ways that can be fatal, with no one spared," said Mndende. – Sapa and Mail & Guardian reporter