Nelson Mandela left $4m estate. South Africas former President Nelson Mandela left an estate provisionally valued at 46m rand ($4.13m; £2.53m), the executors of his will have said. The Mandela family trust will receive $130,000, plus royalties. Others to benefit include the governing ANC, personal staff and several schools. Mr Mandelas third wife, Graca Machel, was likely to waive her claims to the estate, the executors said, although she is entitled to half of it. Mr Mandela died in December, aged 95. The former president left behind an estate that includes an upmarket house in Johannesburg, a modest dwelling in his rural Eastern Cape home province and royalties from book sales, including his autobiography Long Walk to Freedom. Executor Justice Dikgang Moseneke said he was not aware of any contest to the 40-page will. Nelson Mandelas bank account certainly did not match his stature in the world. For all the respect he enjoyed around the globe, he was not a rich man. It was very much in line with his character that he bequeathed funds to his staff and the schools he attended. He left an equitable will, giving $300,000 to each of his biological and step-children. These are the ones Graca Machel had with her late husband, former Mozambique President Samora Machel. When I asked Deputy Chief Justice Dikgang Moseneke, who read out the summary of the will, about the mood inside the room when he read it to Mr Mandelas family, he said it had gone well but will readings tend to be emotionally charged in most families. I have not heard of any reports of acrimonious disagreements from his family, which media reports have led us to expect. If the huge Mandela dynasty can keep it this way, they will have done themselves and the nation proud. Speaking at the Nelson Mandela Foundation in Johannesburg, Mr Moseneke said the 46m rand was based on rough and ready estimates and the final amount could be very different. We are yet to get down to the business of finding the asset, listing them and valuing them and accurately reflecting them. We have a duty to file a provisional inventory. The final amount could be one 10th of what weve said the value is, it could even be double, he said. Justice Moseneke, who is also deputy head of South Africas Constitutional Court, said some of the estate would be split between three trusts set up by Mr Mandela, including a family trust designed to provide for his more than 30 children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. The family trust will receive 1.5m rand, plus royalties. Schools the former president attended are due to receive 100,000 rand each, as are Wits and Fort Hare Universities, for bursaries and scholarships. The ANC (African National Congress) will also receive some royalties, to be used at the discretion of the partys executive committee, to spread information about the partys principles and policies, particularly concerning reconciliation. Mr Mandelas children each received loans worth $300,000 during his lifetime and will have that debt scrapped if it has not been repaid. Close personal staff, including long-time personal aide Zelda la Grange, each get 50,000 rand. The home in Houghton, Johannesburg where Mr Mandela died on 5 December will be used by the family of his deceased son Makgatho. It is my wish that it should also serve as a place of gathering of the Mandela family in order to maintain its unity long after my death, the former statesman wrote. The mood of the Mandela family when the will was read was charged with emotions but it went well, said the executor, who added that the Mandela family were well pleased by his will. Despite this, there are fears the will could set off another round of squabbling among members of his large and factious family. Mr Moseneke said there was a 90-day period in which the will can be contested. The will was first written in 2004 and last amended in 2008.
Posted on: Tue, 04 Feb 2014 01:51:49 +0000
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