Workers storm compound for Mandela bodies

Workers armed with pick- axes and a court order broke into the compound of Nelson Mandela’s grandson to exhume the remains of three of the anti-apartheid hero’s children, a new twist in a row that has split South Africa’s most famous family.

Within hours of a ruling against Mandla Mandela by the high court in Mthatha, 700km south of Johannesburg, police and hearses arrived at Mandla’s complex in the nearby village of Mvezo, where the three bodies are buried.

The bodies were initially laid to rest in the family cemetery in Qunu, the village where the 94-year-old ailing Mandela spent most of his childhood. But they were moved two years ago by Mandla to Mvezo, where he serves as official head of the clan. The spat over the Mandela family graves has transfixed and appalled South Africa.