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Winnie Mandela

JOHANNESBURG. — Winnie Madikizela-Mandela said she allowed her late ex-husband, former president Nelson Mandela, to live on her Qunu property, never thinking he would give it away.

In an exclusive interview with the Daily Dispatch minutes before her plane left Mthatha on Sunday, she spoke out against Mandela, whom she referred to as the “old man”.

She said her divorce from him was a “blessing in disguise”, and that Mandela should never have given the property to his third wife Graça Machel as she owns the “whole world in Mozambique”.

It was Madikizela-Mandela’s first interview since Mandela died a year ago. She was in Qunu for the family’s “ukukhulula izila” (cleansing ritual) at the weekend to mark a year since Mandela’s death.

Madikizela-Mandela has taken her fight for ownership of the Qunu property to court after Mandela bequeathed the home to the Nelson Rholihlahla Mandela Family Trust on behalf of Machel, her children and the Mandela family. An extract from Mandela’s will reads:

“It is my wish that trustees of the NRM Trust administer the Qunu property for the benefit of the Mandela family, and my third wife and her two children, Malengane Machel and Josina Machel. The Qunu home should be used by my family in perpetuity in order to preserve the unity of the Mandela family.”

Madikizela-Mandela wants the court to declare the registration of the property in Mandela’s name a nullity, arguing that she had personally acquired the land.

“I let him live on my property. I wasn’t going to do that to him — evict him from my property simply because he was married to a third wife,” Madikizela-Mandela said.

Asked about public comments on why she waited until so long after Mandela died to challenge the matter, she said: “All I was interested in was my property. It is such a pity 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 she’s got her four houses in Mozambique.”

She said it was unfortunate that she had to go the legal route to get what rightfully belongs to her.

She said she bore no grudges against Machel and that her divorce from Mandela, which drew international headlines, was “a blessing in disguise.”

Madikizela-Mandela said she had no interest in Mandela’s will.

A senior member of the Mandela family, who asked not to be named, supported Madikizela-Mandela’s claim to the property.

“The elders in the family, during the meeting (on Sunday), said the only person who can rightfully claim the Qunu home is Nobandla (Winnie). Evelyn’s house (also in Qunu) is the one currently occupied by Rolihlahla’s cousin’s family.”

Mandla Mandela could not be reached while Ndaba, Mandela’s other grandson, would not comment. — Daily Dispatch