Winnie Madikizela-Mandela claims that she allowed Nelson Mandela to live on her Qunu property but never dreamed he would one day give it away. EMAILPRINT In an interview at Mthatha Airport on Sunday, Madikizela-Mandela spoke out against her former husband, saying her divorce from him was a blessing in disguise. She said Mandela should never have given the property to his third wife, Graça Machel, because Machel owned the whole world in Mozambique. It was Madikizela-Mandelas first interview since Mandela died . She was in Qunu for the familys cleansing ritual at the weekend, a year after Mandela died. Madikizela-Mandela took her fight for the ownership of the Qunu property to court after Mandela bequeathed it to the Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela Family Trust on behalf of Machel, her children and the Mandela family. She wants the court to nullify the registration of the property in Mandelas name , arguing that she had personally acquired it. I let him live on my property. I wasnt going to evict him from my property simply because he was married to a third wife. Im not that sort of person. I never dreamed in a million years that he would at any point give my property away. I only knew when he passed on that he bequeathed my property to his third wife and her children. Asked why she had waited until Mandela died to challenge the matter, she said: All I was interested in was my property. It is such a pity that he is no longer there for me to ask just what on earth would have brought him to elect that he would take my land and give it away to someone who actually has a whole world in Mozambique, because shes got her four houses in Mozambique. She said it was unfortunate that she had had to litigate to get what rightfully belonged to her. This property is mine and I attained it when the old man was on Robben Island and theres no dispute about that, she said. She said she bore no grudge against Machel and that her divorce from Mandela was a blessing in disguise. Turning to Mandelas will, she said: You know this will hullabaloo, which I had absolutely nothing to do with, and I wish the unthinking public would know that I had no desire whatsoever to question anything about his will. He had every right to do whatever he wished to do with whatever he subsequently acquired during his lifetime. A senior member of the Mandela family, who asked not to be named, supported Madikizela-Mandelas claim to the property. The elders in the family, during the meeting yesterday [Sunday], said the only person who can rightfully claim the Qunu home is Nobandla [Madikizela-Mandela].
Posted on: Tue, 09 Dec 2014 06:39:04 +0000
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