Nelson Mandela in a vegetative state and his family is in disarray
A FEUD rages within the Mandela family as its patriarch nears his end. Doctors treating the former South African President, Nelson Mandela, said yesterday that he was in a “permanent vegetative state’’ and advised his family to turn off his life support machine.
“He is in a permanent vegetative state and is assisted in breathing by a life support machine,’’ said a legal filing related to a family dispute over reburying the remains of Mandela’s three children. “The Mandela family has been advised by the medical practitioners that his life support machine should be switched off.’’
The news came as a family feud exploded into the public domain, with Mandela’s grandson accusing his own brother of impregnating his wife.
In an extraordinary press conference, Mandla Mandela said he did not want to air the family’s dirty linen, but then proceeded to talk about adultery within the family and lashed out at fellow Mandela family members for taking him to court.
The claims came as the Mandela family continues a bitter public disagreement over the gravesites and final resting place of three of the anti-apartheid leader’s dead children.
As Mandela spends a 27th day in hospital in a critical condition in Pretoria, his family has become consumed in the ugly spat being played out in his ancestral homeland of Qunu, in South Africa’s Eastern Cape.
At the same time, Mandela’s wife, Graca Machel, thanked the public for their support and said while her beloved husband was sometimes uncomfortable, he was not in pain.
And South African President Jacob Zuma visited Mandela in hospital. He later released a statement saying that the 94-year-old apartheid icon remained in a critical but stable condition and thanked the national and international community for their support.
“We appreciate all the love and compassion. Madiba is receiving the best medical care from a multi-disciplinary team of health professionals who are at his bedside around the clock,” Zuma said.
The bizarre Mandela family saga has included allegations of adultery, grave tampering, children born outside wedlock in the extended Mandela family and of bitter divisions between Mandela’s children and grandchildren.
The feud came to a head this week when a court in Mthatha ruled that the bodies of three of Mandela’s dead children be exhumed from a site on the property of grandson Mandla and returned to Mandela’s ancestral home in Qunu.
Mandla, who claims he is the rightful head of the Mandela family, moved the bodies in 2011 from Qunu to Mvezo, where he is building a memorial centre for Nelson Mandela. It is claimed that he wants his grandfather buried there in order to maximise financial benefits from the centre.
Infuriated, 16 members of the Mandela family took Mandla to court, seeking the bodies to be returned to Qunu where it is believed that Mandela has said he wants to be buried with his children.
Late on Wednesday, officials, armed with a pick-axe, dramatically broke down the gates of Mandla’s home and found the unmarked graves. The bodies have now been taken to a morgue for forensic testing before reburial at the graveyard in Qunu, possibly later today.
Mandla said that he was disappointed by the court ruling and says his ailing grandfather would also be disappointed. But he vowed he would not pursue further court action against the ruling.
Chief among his claims are that his brother, Mbuso, had impregnated his (Mandla’s) now estranged wife and the family had never discussed the matter again.
And he claimed that his two younger brothers, Mbuso and Andile, were not the children of his late father and that this father had impregnated a married woman and another brother was the result of that union.
Mandla claimed that he had been previously instructed by his aunt, Makaziwe, to remove the children’s remains and bury them in a secret location where she is preparing a gravesite for her grandfather.
But he said because he had not been instructed by his grandfather, Mandela or his wife, Graca Machel, to do so, he did not follow the instructions and kept them at his property in Mvezo.
He claims that as the eldest son of his father, he himself is entitled to decide where his father, Mandela’s son, is buried.
He accused his aunt, Makaziwe, Mandela’s eldest daughter, of sewing divisions and destruction in the family.
Makaziwe has also lodged a police complaint against her nephew, alleging grave tampering, and police have confirmed an investigation is under way.
The ruling African National Congress (ANC) has expressed concern at the public spat and called on them to resolve their differences.
And well-wishers and supporters continue to come to the hospital in Pretoria to pray for Mandela’s recovery and pay tributes to the former leader who spent 27 years in prison and then led the nation from apartheid, preaching reconciliation.
In the latest twist in an increasingly macabre story, senior members snubbed medical advice and said that until the corpses, which were taken by his grandson, Mandla, had been returned to their original resting place in Qunu, Mandela’s life support would stay switched on.
They argued that the former president should not be buried alone.
Even before this development, his daughter, Makaziwe, had said the family would not end his medical treatment and only God could decide when his time has come to die.
She added: “In our culture, the Tembu culture, you never release the person unless the person has told you, ‘please, my children, my family – release me’.
“These people who want to talk about, you know, releasing him, he hasn’t said we should release him and we haven’t come to the end yet. It is only God who knows the end.”
She had added that she believed her father was at peace: “I believe he is at peace. He is at peace with himself. He has given so much to the world. I believe he is at peace.
“This is a sacred time for us, and I would expect the world to really back off and leave us alone.”
Mandela’s grand-daughter, Ndileka, had added: “His fighting spirit is what amazes me. I don’t know what keeps him fighting and he is stoic and determined that he will end things his way. Not any other person’s way.
“I strongly feel that whatever covenant he has made with his ancestors and God has not been fulfilled – when that is fulfilled, he will bow out in a way that he chooses.”
“He is in a permanent vegetative state and is assisted in breathing by a life support machine,’’ said a legal filing related to a family dispute over reburying the remains of Mandela’s three children. “The Mandela family has been advised by the medical practitioners that his life support machine should be switched off.’’
The news came as a family feud exploded into the public domain, with Mandela’s grandson accusing his own brother of impregnating his wife.
In an extraordinary press conference, Mandla Mandela said he did not want to air the family’s dirty linen, but then proceeded to talk about adultery within the family and lashed out at fellow Mandela family members for taking him to court.
The claims came as the Mandela family continues a bitter public disagreement over the gravesites and final resting place of three of the anti-apartheid leader’s dead children.
As Mandela spends a 27th day in hospital in a critical condition in Pretoria, his family has become consumed in the ugly spat being played out in his ancestral homeland of Qunu, in South Africa’s Eastern Cape.
At the same time, Mandela’s wife, Graca Machel, thanked the public for their support and said while her beloved husband was sometimes uncomfortable, he was not in pain.
And South African President Jacob Zuma visited Mandela in hospital. He later released a statement saying that the 94-year-old apartheid icon remained in a critical but stable condition and thanked the national and international community for their support.
“We appreciate all the love and compassion. Madiba is receiving the best medical care from a multi-disciplinary team of health professionals who are at his bedside around the clock,” Zuma said.
The bizarre Mandela family saga has included allegations of adultery, grave tampering, children born outside wedlock in the extended Mandela family and of bitter divisions between Mandela’s children and grandchildren.
The feud came to a head this week when a court in Mthatha ruled that the bodies of three of Mandela’s dead children be exhumed from a site on the property of grandson Mandla and returned to Mandela’s ancestral home in Qunu.
Mandla, who claims he is the rightful head of the Mandela family, moved the bodies in 2011 from Qunu to Mvezo, where he is building a memorial centre for Nelson Mandela. It is claimed that he wants his grandfather buried there in order to maximise financial benefits from the centre.
Infuriated, 16 members of the Mandela family took Mandla to court, seeking the bodies to be returned to Qunu where it is believed that Mandela has said he wants to be buried with his children.
Late on Wednesday, officials, armed with a pick-axe, dramatically broke down the gates of Mandla’s home and found the unmarked graves. The bodies have now been taken to a morgue for forensic testing before reburial at the graveyard in Qunu, possibly later today.
Mandla said that he was disappointed by the court ruling and says his ailing grandfather would also be disappointed. But he vowed he would not pursue further court action against the ruling.
Chief among his claims are that his brother, Mbuso, had impregnated his (Mandla’s) now estranged wife and the family had never discussed the matter again.
And he claimed that his two younger brothers, Mbuso and Andile, were not the children of his late father and that this father had impregnated a married woman and another brother was the result of that union.
Mandla claimed that he had been previously instructed by his aunt, Makaziwe, to remove the children’s remains and bury them in a secret location where she is preparing a gravesite for her grandfather.
But he said because he had not been instructed by his grandfather, Mandela or his wife, Graca Machel, to do so, he did not follow the instructions and kept them at his property in Mvezo.
He claims that as the eldest son of his father, he himself is entitled to decide where his father, Mandela’s son, is buried.
He accused his aunt, Makaziwe, Mandela’s eldest daughter, of sewing divisions and destruction in the family.
Makaziwe has also lodged a police complaint against her nephew, alleging grave tampering, and police have confirmed an investigation is under way.
The ruling African National Congress (ANC) has expressed concern at the public spat and called on them to resolve their differences.
And well-wishers and supporters continue to come to the hospital in Pretoria to pray for Mandela’s recovery and pay tributes to the former leader who spent 27 years in prison and then led the nation from apartheid, preaching reconciliation.
In the latest twist in an increasingly macabre story, senior members snubbed medical advice and said that until the corpses, which were taken by his grandson, Mandla, had been returned to their original resting place in Qunu, Mandela’s life support would stay switched on.
They argued that the former president should not be buried alone.
Even before this development, his daughter, Makaziwe, had said the family would not end his medical treatment and only God could decide when his time has come to die.
She added: “In our culture, the Tembu culture, you never release the person unless the person has told you, ‘please, my children, my family – release me’.
“These people who want to talk about, you know, releasing him, he hasn’t said we should release him and we haven’t come to the end yet. It is only God who knows the end.”
She had added that she believed her father was at peace: “I believe he is at peace. He is at peace with himself. He has given so much to the world. I believe he is at peace.
“This is a sacred time for us, and I would expect the world to really back off and leave us alone.”
Mandela’s grand-daughter, Ndileka, had added: “His fighting spirit is what amazes me. I don’t know what keeps him fighting and he is stoic and determined that he will end things his way. Not any other person’s way.
“I strongly feel that whatever covenant he has made with his ancestors and God has not been fulfilled – when that is fulfilled, he will bow out in a way that he chooses.”
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