Makaziwe’s reburial case was built on a lie

to switch off life support to spare him further suffering and that a decision on the reburial of three of Mandela’s children was urgent.

Mandla yesterday accused his aunt of lying “to the court so that she can get a decision in her favour”.

Briefed by Makaziwe and Hayes, her Port Elizabeth lawyer, Smith, told Pakade last week:

Mandela’s Pretoria medical team would provide an affidavit on his condition; Mandela was in “a permanent vegetative state”; “The Mandela family have been advised by the medical practitioners that his life-support machine should be switched off”;

“The anticipation of his impending death is based on real and substantial grounds”;

Mandela should be buried alongside his kin and not “entirely alone and forlorn and absent from those remains of his children and grandchildren”; and

The application was supported by Mandela’s former wife, Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, and his current wife, Graça Machel.

Acting on this information, Pakade issued a handwritten order that the application to move the bodies could be heard on four hours’ notice. Mandla was given only an hour to indicate whether he would contest it. The case went ahead in Pakade’s chambers on Friday and he granted an order for the removal of the bodies to Qunu. His decision was confirmed on appeal on Monday.

Although her name was on the application for urgency, Madikizela-Mandela did not support the actual application in chambers.

This entire case was ruled on hearsay. The court never got the opportunity to test the claims contained in the certificate of urgency

Mandla said his legal team was denied access to the certificate of urgency of the in-camera proceedings held last Friday.

“If it is proven that indeed Madiba’s state of health was abused to trick the justice system, then it is a sad day for all of us,” he said.

Pakade declined to comment on the procedure followed and referred the Sunday Times to the official judgment, which has not been released by the court.

Mandla’s lawyer, Hymie Zilwa, questioned how the judge could have issued a final order without them being present to state their case.

“This entire case was ruled on hearsay. The court never got an opportunity to test the claims contained in the certificate of urgency.

“Also, there were no confirmatory affidavits from the rest of the applicants, which would basically say Makaziwe was authorised to represent the rest of the applicants,” said Zilwa.