JOHANNESBURG, South Africa (AP) — A
family feud over the burial site of three of Nelson Mandela's children
intensified yesterday when criminal charges were filed against one of his
grandsons, as the ailing 94-year-old former president remained hospitalised in
critical condition.
Sixteen relatives have taken
grandson Mandla Mandela to court after he reburied the children's remains in
Mandela's birthplace of Mvezo in 2011. The Mandela relatives claim Mandla
Mandela had not sought permission or even informed family members when he did
so.
The revered statesman has long said that he wants to be buried in Qunu, where his children were buried in the family plot. Mandla Mandela moved the children's remains to Mvezo, where he plans to open a hotel.
Arguments were heard yesterday over
a court order calling for the bodies to be returned to Qunu; the case was
adjourned until today.
Meanwhile, police said criminal charges
of "tampering with a grave" have been pressed against Mandla Mandela
over the exhumation of the three bodies.
"A case is opened at the police
station and we will now investigate that case," said police Lieutenant
Colonel Mzukisi Fatyela, who declined to reveal who pressed the charges.
Nelson Mandela was taken to a
Pretoria hospital on June 8 for a recurring lung infection. Since then, there
has been a groundswell of concern in South Africa and around the world for the
man who spent 27 years as a prisoner under apartheid and then emerged to
negotiate an end to white racist rule before becoming president.
Authorities also announced that
former President FW de Klerk, who shared the 1993 Nobel Peace Prize with
Mandela, was fitted with a pacemaker yesterday. De Klerk is the last leader of
South Africa's apartheid era and freed Mandela from prison before going on to
serve as his deputy president.
A Cape Town-based foundation named
after 77-year-old de Klerk said the former president felt dizzy after returning
home on Sunday from a trip to Europe, following several such spells of
dizziness in recent weeks.
It said de Klerk was "doing
fine" after the pacemaker was successfully implanted and that de Klerk, in
line with standard procedure, was staying in the hospital overnight.
South Africa President Jacob Zuma
released a statement wishing the former leader a speedy recovery.
On Saturday, the foundation issued a
statement on behalf of de Klerk and his wife Elita, saying they had decided to
suspend a working visit and vacation in Europe because Mandela is critically
ill, and that they were praying for an improvement in the health of the
anti-apartheid leader.
De Klerk, a former education minister who had backed segregated schooling, was a key figure in a delicate transition that turned out to be relatively peaceful despite fears of widespread racial conflict.
In 1990, a year after becoming South
Africa's president, he announced he was legalising the African National
Congress, the banned group that led the anti-apartheid movement, and would free
Mandela. De Klerk received the Nobel prize along with Mandela for his reformist
initiatives and effectively negotiating himself out of power.
De Klerk later served as a deputy
president during Mandela's single five-year term as president. Since his
retirement from political life, he has travelled widely and delivered lectures.
His foundation says its mission is to help poor and disabled children,
contribute to conflict resolution and uphold South Africa's constitution, which
robustly supports the protection of human rights.
Last year, Mandela's archivists and
Google announced a project to digitally preserve a record of Mandela's life. In
one online video, de Klerk recalled being asked to address parliament alongside
Mandela in 2004. It was the 10th anniversary of the day Mandela became
president. Mandela took de Klerk's arm as lawmakers applauded.
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