Winnie lawyer dismisses bid to block claim

State reaction to Qunu request ‘premature’

LAWYERS for Winnie MadikizelaMandela yesterday brushed off a notice lodged by the state attorney that could block their client’s attempts to claim Qunu.

Madikizela-Mandela’s lawyers are attempting to access government records that show who took the decision to issue a deed of grant giving the Qunu property to Nelson Mandela.

Yesterday, President Jacob Zuma’s spokesman Mac Maharaj confirmed to the Dispatch that the state attorney had indeed filed a notice to oppose the late statesman’s divorced wife’s land claim.

“I can confirm that the state attorney has filed the notice to oppose, pending instructions from the president,” Maharaj told the Daily Dispatch.

Madikizela-Mandela’s lawyer Mvuzo Notyesi however, told the Dispatch the state attorney’s application was likely to be dismissed by the court.

“That is a completely irregular notice. We are told there is a notice. They cannot file a notice to oppose before they furnish us with the required information. It is completely premature and totally irrelevant.”

Notyesi has requested information pertaining to the deed of grant given to Mandela, such as who applied for it and the minutes of the meeting where the decision to give it to Mandela was discussed.

Madikizela-Mandela filed papers at the Mthatha High Court last month in which she claims that Mandela used part of the State Land Disposal Act incorrectly by donating the land to himself.

She wants the registration of the property under Mandela’s name to be declared a nullity by the court.

She also wants the court to review and set aside the decision of the president of the time, Mandela, and the Minister of Land Affairs, to issue a deed of grant for the Qunu property in favour of Mandela.

She claims registration of the deed of grant was unlawful, invalid and unconstitutional.

The Mandela’s in 1996.

In his will Mandela said he wanted the Qunu home to be used for the benefit of the members of the Mandela family and his third wife, Graca Machel, and her two children.

“The Qunu property should be used by my family in perpetuity in order to preserve the unity of the Mandela family,” Mandela said in his will. In her founding affidavit, Madikizelawrote that she wanted records from the (Zuma) presidency and the minister of land affairs (Gugile Nkwinti, Minister of Rural Development and Land Reform), that indicate “who applied for the grant to be issued in respect of the Qunu property and who took the decision for the grant to be issued in favour of [Mandela] and when the decision was made.”

The document further reads that there were no records and files kept by the Department of Land Affairs and the deeds registry concerning the property. —

MadikizelaMandela’s lawyers are attempting to access government records that show who took the decision to issue a deed of grant giving the Qunu property to Nelson Mandela

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