Bail hearing for Mandela’s grandson accused of raping girl, 15, postponed

A grandson of Nelson Mandela accused of raping a 15-year-old girl will remain in police custody while his defence lawyers collect more evidence for a bail hearing, a South African judge has ruled.

Mbuso Mandela’s bail hearing was postponed to Tuesday to give his defence team more time to locate a witness who they say could give evidence that the incident was consensual, a judge ruled.

The judge at the Johannesburg magistrates’ court also ordered the prosecution to produce the official identity document of the teenager accusing Mbuso Mandela of rape, in order to settle the defence’s dispute that the girl is 16, the age of legal consent in South Africa.