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.

Mandla has not made clear why he moved the remains the 20km to Mvezo, where Mandela was born, but many South Africans believe it is a bid to ensure his grandfather will be buried there. Mandla has built a visitor centre and a memorial to his grandfather at Mvezo.

Last week, a rival faction of the family led by Mandela’s oldest daughter, Makaziwe, sought a court order for the bodies to be returned to Qunu.

Police have opened an investigation to determine whether the bodies were moved illegally.

Mandla, a 39-year-old Member of Parliament for the ruling African National Congress (ANC), was not present when the group entered the Mvezo complex to carry out the court order. However, a statement released by his office said he would not stand in their way.

The three Mandela children buried in Mvezo are an infant girl who died in 1948; a boy, Thembi, who died in a car crash in 1969; and Makgatho, who died of an AIDS-related illness in 2005.