Mandla names son after great-grandfather
THE two-month-old son of Chief Mandla Mandela and his wife, Nosekeni Rabia Mandela, has been named after Mandla’s grandfather.
The couple has named their son Mntwanenkosi Mandela Ikraam Mandela, also known as Mandela ka Mandela.
“This weekend the hills around Mvezo Komkhulu reverberated with ululations of welcome for Mntwanenkosi Mandela Ikraam Mandela, firstborn son of Nkosi Zwelivelile and Nkosikazi Nosekeni Rabia Mandela.
“The great Mandela family tree has a new root in Mandela ka Mandela,” said Mandela in a statement.
Born on May 12, the child received the name Ikraam at a ceremony conducted by Sheikh Ebrahim Gabriels in Cape Town.
Ikraam means “noble” and “esteem veneration”. The name was chosen by Nosekeni and the Clarke family after Mandla’s deceased brother.
“We are overjoyed and filled with gratitude that the Mandela legacy and lineage will live on through our son and pray for his health and wellbeing,” Nkosi Zwelivelile said.
“How proud his great-grandfather would have been to set eyes on him, to know his great-grandson carries his grandfather’s name,” Mandela added.
In an event held this past week at Mvezo Great Place, a sheep was slaughtered to welcome Mandela ka Mandela.
“The slaughtering of a sacrificial sheep at the birth of a newborn child is common to Muslim and AbaThembu culture and is a symbol of gratitude for the new life, as well as a prayer of protection for the progeny of Mntwanenkosi Mandela ka Mandela,” saidMandela. —