Winnie hits out at lawyers as Qunu claim stalls will
As planning for Mandela Day hots up, the statesman’s heirs are still waiting for his estate to be wound up
WINNIE Madikizela-Mandela has lashed out at lawyers handling her former husband Nelson Mandela’s estate, accusing them of intentionally delaying a court case over the Qunu home in order to milk the “big purse”.
The Qunu case was in turn being wrongly blamed for delays in the winding-up of Mandela’s estate, Madikizela-Mandela said through her legal representative, Mvuzo Notyesi.
Beneficiaries of the will — including family members and three schools — have yet to be paid from the estate. Among them are Mandela’s grandsons Mandla, Mbuso and Ndaba, who are due to get $300 000 (just over R3.7-million) each.
The former president died in December 2013 and his will was read in February last year.
Notyesi said some beneficiaries, who he would not name, had complained to him about the delay in winding up the estate. He said they had been told the Qunu matter was to blame, which was not the case, he said.
Ndaba said he did not believe that Madikizela-Mandela’s case was the only thing delaying the winding-up of the estate, saying the lawyers “are having difficulties for some reason or another. The family has not contested the will or anything of the sort. Trust me, the family and everybody wants to see it being wound up sooner rather than later.”
Mandla would not comment, saying the matter was in the hands of lawyers.
Mandela’s eldest grandchild, Ndileka Mandela, said: “My stance is that if you’re a beneficiary in a will, that’s a bonus, and people should go and work. My foundation has been keeping me very busy [and] I have not been concentrating on what’s happening [with the estate].”
Ndileka is not due to receive anything from the estate, having already been given $300 000 — along with Mandela’s children Makaziwe, Zenani, Zindzi and the late Makgatho — while Mandela was alive.
The executors of Mandela’s will — Deputy Chief Justice Dikgang Moseneke, Advocate George Bizos and Eastern Cape Judge President Themba Sangoni — are named as the first respondents in a court case launched last year in which Madikizela-Mandela claims she is the rightful owner of the Qunu property that Mandela lived on, and where he is buried.
The three are assisted in the day-to-day handling of the estate by lawyers Metja Ledwaba and Michael Katz.
Notyesi said this week: “[Madikizela-Mandela] is saying that the reason why it is being delayed . . . is to escalate fees. Winnie’s view is that there is a purse to this whole matter, that’s why there is a delay. It is not me saying it, it is the client.”
Notyesi said the delay was frustrating as nine months had passed since he lodged papers in the Qunu case. He said that in May he had filed his response to the executor’s papers and was still waiting for a court date for the matter to be heard.
Since May, said Notyesi, he had repeatedly tried to secure a date, but the state’s lawyers and the executors had asked for additional information and documents, which was stalling the process. A judge was willing to set a date for this month or August, but opposing counsel had turned this down, he said.
In the meantime, Notyesi said the executors were blaming the delay in finalising the estate on Madikizela-Mandela’s claim, which he described as “unfair”.
“All that we are complaining about is the date of the hearing, nothing else. It needs to be heard in court. What is worse is that beneficiaries of the estate are not being paid. They are seriously prejudiced by this intentional delay,” said Notyesi.
The executors’ representative, Ledwaba, denied that they were to blame for the delay.
“We have taken note of the accusations that you say Madikizela-Mandela lawyers have levelled at the ‘administrators’, that they are deliberately de- laying the case that she has instituted against the executors . . . our client denies any such allegations,” said Ledwaba.
❛ Winnie’s view is that there is a purse to this whole matter, that’s why there is a delay