King Dalindyebo Strips Mandla Mandela of Chieftaincy


By Ntokozo Sindane    07-Jul-2013 10:58 UTC+02:00
Mandla Mandela, Nelson Mandela’s grandson has been stripped of chieftaincy after a bitter family feud. – image - www.telegraph.co.uk

Mandla Mandela, Nelson Mandela’s grandson has been stripped of chieftaincy after a bitter family feud. – image – www.telegraph.co.uk

According to media reports on Sunday, the vocal grandson of former President Nelson Mandela is no longer the chief of the Mvezo Traditional Council. Mandla Mandela is the freedom icon’s favorite grandchild. Family members are of the opinion that he has abused this grandfatherly affection and has become a spoilt brat. The family was angered by the way that Mandla carried himself throughout the Mandela family burial site disagreement. King Zwelinzima Dalindyebo was equally infuriated with Mandla whose conduct the king thought was unbecoming of a chief.

In 2011, Mandla Mandela decided to exhume the bodies of Nelson Mandela’s three children from where the former president and the family had buried them in Qunu. Mandla had volunteered to be the chief of Mvezo and he wanted the deceased family members to be buried in his district. Court documents reveal that when the family was informed of Nelson Mandela’s “perilous” state of health, they decided to start preparing for the inevitable by initiating the process to have the bodies of his children brought back to Qunu. The family said that Mandela had expressed the wish to be buried in Qunu, near his children.

The remains have since been reburied in Qunu. However, this did not bring about the sense of finality that the family had hoped it would. Mandla has continued his attack on the family by speaking to anyone who would listen about things that the family and traditional leaders feel should be kept private.

King Dalindyebo is lenient and will consider reinstating Mandla as chief if he apologizes and his apology is accepted. The furious king said: “So, as long as the family does not need him in their premises, we don’t need him in the Madiba clan at all.” Mandla has been banned from any participation or involvement in the traditional affairs of the Mandela family as well as the Mvezo district.

There have been clashing reports about former President Nelson Mandela recently. The presidency reported that Mandela is in a “critical condition”. At some point President Zuma said: “He is much better today than he was when I saw him last night.” The court documents that were submitted by the Mandela family during the gravesite saga tell a different story. According to those documents, the former president is in a “permanent vegetative state” and the family has been advised to turn off his life support system. This could possibly explain the sense of urgency in getting the deceased Mandela children back to Qunu. The presidency and a close friend of the elderly Mandela have denied that he is wholly dependent on life support machines.


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