Winnie to battle for Madiba's Qunu homestead in SCA

8th November 2017 By: News24Wire

Winnie to battle for Madiba's Qunu homestead in SCA

Winnie Madikizela-Mandela
Photo by: Reuters

In less than two weeks, the tug-of-war over former president Nelson Mandela's homestead in the Eastern Cape is set to be heard in the Supreme Court of Appeal in Bloemfontein.

Mandela's ex-wife Winnie Madikizela-Mandela is asking that the court overturn a 2016 decision by the Eastern Cape High Court in Mthatha, which dismissed her application to acquire Mandela's home in Qunu.

Madikizela-Mandela believes a decision taken by the Minister of Land Affairs on November 16, 1997, in which the land was donated to the former president, should be set aside.

She claims that the property was built on land allocated to her in 1989 and she has maintained that she only discovered in 2014 that the property was registered under Mandela's name.

The Royal House of Mandela previously rejected Madikizela-Mandela's claim to the property, saying Madiba's final wishes, that the Qunu residence be managed by the executors of his estate, should be honoured.

"Some of the executors have been lifelong friends, trusted aides and allies. We refer specifically to Advocate George Bizos, who knew my grandfather since his school days," Chief of the Royal House of Mandela, Mandla Mandela, said in April 2016.

On Tuesday, Madikizela-Mandela's attorney, Mvuzo Notyesi, said Madikizela-Mandela "maintains that the property is rightfully hers".

He said the matter was expected to be heard on November 16.