Mandla wants to decide where Mandela is buried

Nelson Mandela's grandson Mandla says he is the oldest male member of the family and thus entitled to determine where the former president is buried.
"I am the son of the late Makgatho Lewanika Mandela and am his oldest surviving male descendant," Mandla Mandela said in court papers due to be served in the Eastern Cape High Court in Mthatha on Wednesday.
"I am therefore entitled to determine where he is to be buried."
Mandla is challenging a court order compelling him to return the remains of three family members he had moved from Mandela's home in Qunu to his own home in Mvezo in 2011.
Last week, several members of the family, including Mandela's daughters Makaziwe Mandela, Zindzi Mandela, and Zenani Mandela, his ex-wife Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, and his wife Graca Machel (applicant number 12) were granted an urgent order for Mandla Mandela to return the remains to Qunu.
In the court papers, seen by Sapa, Mandla Mandela said the application was delivered to his home in Mvezo while he was at his "grandfather's bedside".
"I was at my grandfather's sick bed at the time when the application was brought.
"The applicants must have been aware of this."
He said was unaware of the court proceedings and was "shocked" when the court order was served on him.
"I was never given an opportunity to answer any of the very serious allegations which were made against me. I was simply denied a hearing. It is for that reason that a rescission application if being piloted on my behalf."
Precisely why the matter was urgent was not explained, Mandela said.
Nor was "the tenuous link" between the remains and the burial of his grandfather explained.
"In this regard, I respectfully point out that the applicant suggested that my grandfather's body must follow the bodies of his children who have predeceased him.
"Precisely why this is so has not, however, been explained. I can confirm that this is not in accordance with customary law."
Mandla Mandela said the burial place of his grandfather "will be determined by his last will and testament".
"If there are no express directions in that document this duty shall befall me as the eldest surviving male descendant."
He said in "the unlikely event" that it was necessary for him to exercise his discretion in this regard, he would do so only after consulting Graca Machel, the government, and the Amadlomo Royal families.
The graves are those of Mandela's eldest son, Mandla's father, Makgato Mandela who died in 2005; Mandela's first daughter Makaziwe, who died as an infant in 1948; and Mandela's second son Madiba Thembekile, who died in a car accident in 1969.
The applicants want the remains exhumed on Wednesday afternoon.
Judge Lusindiso Pakade is expected to make a decision today.