Where will Mama rest?
Thembu royal house wants her to be buried side-by-side with Madiba; family announces burial will be in Joburg
It was not clear yesterday where Winnie MadikizelaMandela would be buried.
Abathembu Royal Council yesterday demanded that she be laid to rest next to her former husband Nelson Mandela in Qunu, Eastern Cape.
Council spokesman Prince Mhlontlo Phandulwazi said according to customary law, Madikizela-Mandela was still Mandela’s wife.
“According to tradition she did not divorce herself [from Abathembu clan], that is why we allowed her to mourn for Mandela by wearing black clothes. She was also cleansed here in Qunu. We’ve known her as the only wife who can be laid to rest next to Mandela.
“People would remember that Mandela’s widow Graça Machel said she wanted to be buried next to her late husband Samora in Mozambique,” Phandulwazi said.
However, President Cyril Ramaphosa issued a statement yesterday where he said her special official funeral on April 14 would be held at the Orlando Stadium, Soweto. He said the rest of the details were being finalised with her family.
Family member Themba Matanzima announced at Madikizela-Mandela’s Soweto home yesterday that she would be buried at the affluent Fourways Cemetery, Sandton.
Her great-granddaughter Zenani Mandela was buried at the same cemetery in 2010 following a fatal car crash.
Zenani’s mother Zoleka Mandela is the daughter of Zindzi Mandela, the last-born daughter of Madiba and Madikizela-Mandela.
Zoleka had a close relationship with Madikizela-Mandela and, according to her Instagram account, they spent the Easter Holidays together before she died.
But, Phandulwazi said jailed King Buyelekhaya Dalindyebo signed an affidavit giving Madikizela-Mandela a piece of land where the Qunu house was built. “Winnie played a big role in the Abathembu Royal Council from the time of King Sabata Jonguhlanga Dalindyebo, who is King Buyelekhaya’s father.
“When King Jonguhlanga passed away in 1986, it was Mama Winnie who made it possible for Buyelekhaya to bury his father. Her death is a great loss to abaThembu clan.”
Speaking on behalf of the Xhosa King Zwelonke Sigcawu, Chief Xolile Ndevu said they also supported the call to have Madikizela-Mandela buried in Qunu.
“There is no divorce in a Xhosa culture, she is still the wife of abaThembu and Qunu is her home,” Ndevu said.
Her memorial service will be held at Regina Mundi Church in Soweto on April 11.