‘Don’t try me as a Mandela’
Madiba’s grandson wants to be seen as an ordinary man
‘HE DOESN’T want to be tried as a Mandela. He wants to be tried as a normal person.” This was the argument of Marinda Veldsman, the lawyer who secured bail for Nelson Mandela’s grandson Mbuso in the Johannesburg Magistrate’s Court yesterday.
It was during the bail application that the 24-year-old told the court through Veldsman that because he was now in the public eye over the alleged rape of a 15-year-old girl, he was desperate to clear his name.
Mandela was arrested for an incident on August 7 where he allegedly raped the teenager at a Greenside bar and restaurant.
Yesterday, more details were revealed as Veldsman gave her client’s replies to the claims. The teenager’s affidavit said Mandela had forcefully kissed her in a dark passage in the restaurant, reached into her pants and forced her to the ground before sexually assaulting her.
However, the defence was able to produce a written statement from a chef who was working the night of the incident, who saw the kiss. According to the statement, the kiss was “intimate” and consensual, meaning the chef didn’t have any reason to be alarmed.
He described the couple as “comfortable and familiar”. He also stated that if the girl had screamed or struggled, as she claimed in her affidavit, he would certainly have heard it as he was nearby.
The girl’s age was a bone of contention throughout yesterday’s proceedings, with the defence claiming she had not only given her age incorrectly on the night of the incident, but also used social media accounts to suggest she was older.
Mandela insisted in his own affidavit he was in disbelief that the girl was so young. She claimed she was over 18 and was drinking and smoking – and posting pictures of her behaviour on social media – at a venue that was exclusively meant for people older than 21.
He also claimed that the sex with the teenager was consensual, and that she had “straddled” him as he sat in a chair in the restaurant.
And while the prosecution had produced the complainant’s birth certificate, Veldsman was insistent that it may not be the correct one for the complainant, who used a different last name on her social media accounts. But prosecutor Kosmos Mbhele submitted documentation proving the birth certificate was the teenager’s.
Mandela also denied any knowledge of the State’s assertion that he was being investigated for an assault case in Norwood where he allegedly attacked a 41-year-old woman, or that he was a suicide risk.
In his judgment on the bail application, magistrate Paul du Plessis acknowledged that the seriousness of a schedule 6 offence meant that the defence had to prove exceptional circumstances for bail to be granted.
However, he said that, based on the uncontested evidence given by the defence, including the bar employee’s affidavit, there were serious issues with the State’s case against Mandela. He said that because of the possible weakness of the State’s case, there was a reasonable likelihood that Mandela could be acquitted, and thus it was not just to keep such a person in prison while he awaited trial.
“Clearly it is not proper, regardless of the seriousness of the offence… to hold such a person in custody,” Du Plessis said.
The magistrate added that the perceived age of the complainant would be a significant factor in the upcoming trial, but was careful to note that the bail application did not concern the innocence or guilt of the accused, or the truthfulness of the complainant, but rather to determine the strength of the State’s prima facie case. He granted Mandela bail of R7 000 and set conditions that he sign in at Norwood police station twice a week and hand over his travel documents.
Outside the courtroom, Mandela’s relatives, including his aunt Makaziwe and brother Ndaba, embraced the legal team.
The case is set to continue on September 16.