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The remains of three of
Nelson Mandela's children have been exhumed from a property belonging to
his grandson, Mandla Mandela, police say.
They have been taken from Mvezo in South Africa's Eastern
Cape Province to a funeral parlour in nearby Mthatha, Lt Col Mzukisi
Fatyela told the BBC.It comes hours after a court ruled the remains should be removed for reburial in a nearby family graveyard.
Mandla moved the remains in 2011, allegedly without the family's consent.
His 94-year-old grandfather remains critically ill in hospital suffering from a recurring lung infection.
After the gates were forced, police began searching for the graves
"Nelson Mandela's health is perilous. [An] affidavit will be provided from physicians that he is assisted in breathing by a life support machine," the paper quotes the documents filed by Mr Mandela's family last Thursday as saying.
President Jacob Zuma said on Monday that Mr Mandela's condition remained critical but had stabilised, and he urged South Africans to plan for his 95th birthday on 18 July.
Forensic investigations The former president has said he wants to be buried in the family graveyard in the village of Qunu, where he grew up and mostly lived after he retired.
Lt Col Fatyela said forensic investigations would be carried out on the exhumed remains in Mthatha.
Analysis
Behind the drama in the High Court in Mthatha over the moving of the remains of three of Nelson Mandela's late children from Qunu to Mvezo and now back again lies a struggle for authority within the divided Mandela family - amid the increasing frailty of the family patriarch.With the court ruling going against Nelson Mandela's grandson Mandla - heir apparent, he is often called - the question is whether his influence and authority have been undermined.
It has been suggested by some traditional elders here that the feuding has disturbed the spirit of the ailing former president when it should be at peace.
One thing is sure. There is a stark contrast between what US President Barack Obama called "the current outpouring of love for Nelson Mandela" as he lies in his hospital bed, and the sorry saga played out before the cameras in court here.
A court last Friday granted 16
members of the Mandela family an order for the remains to be exhumed and
moved from Mandla Mandela's homestead in Mvezo, the former president's
birthplace, to nearby Qunu, 22km (14 miles) away.
But Mandla Mandela, who was appointed as chief of Mvezo by his grandfather, went to court to challenge it.On Wednesday, the Mthatha High Court confirmed its initial decision and said the exhumations should take place - despite an appeal lodged by Mandla Mandela, which reports said the High Court refused to hear.
Police arrived at his property on Wednesday afternoon accompanied by Mr Mandela's daughter Makiziwe, the BBC's Gringo Wotshela in Mvezo reports, breaking down the gates with an axe.
Nelson Mandela's children
With Evelyn Mase:- Thembekile born 1945, died 1969
- Makaziwe born 1947, died aged nine months
- Makgatho born 1950, died 2005
- Makaziwe, born 1954
- Zenani born 1959
- Zindziswa born 1960
The remains are those of Makgatho
Mandela, Mandla's father who died from Aids-related diseases in 2005,
and Makgatho's siblings, Thembekile, who was killed in a car accident in
1969, and Makaziwe, Nelson Mandela's first daughter, who died when she
was nine months old.
The BBC's Pumza Fihlani in Johannesburg says Mandla Mandela's
plans to open a heritage centre dedicated to his grandfather in Mvezo,
in the former site of the graves, have left a bitter taste among many
within the family.Some family members have also laid a criminal complaint against him for illegal grave tampering.
The police told the BBC on Tuesday they would investigate such allegations and a public prosecutor would then decide whether to press charges.
While
Nelson Mandela is fighting for his life in a Pretoria hospital, members
of his family are fighting each other, in a feud which is being played
out in lurid details in the local media.
Several family members have taken his eldest grandson,
Mandla, to court in a bid to exhume three of the former president's
children, so they can be reburied in the family graveyard in Qunu, where
Mr Mandela wants to be laid to rest.And the battle over the exhumations is a sign of much deeper divisions within Mr Mandela's large and complex family - his three wives, six children, 17 grandchildren and 12 surviving great-grandchildren.
According to some elders from his clan, while his family is at war, his spirit cannot be at peace.
Deep symbolism
Continue reading the main story
“Start Quote
Some members believe that Mr Mandela's recurrent illness is a message from the ancestors”
Sixteen members of the Mandela
family and local chiefs were last week granted an interim order by the
Mthatha High Court to exhume the remains and return them to Qunu, where
Mr Mandela's home is located.
But Mandla Mandela, who according to local media reports
moved the remains 22km (14 miles) from Qunu to his homestead in Mvezo in
2011, is now contesting that ruling. The remains are of Makgatho Mandela, Mandla's father who died from Aids-related diseases in 2005 and his siblings, Thembekile, who was killed in a car accident in 1969, and Makaziwe, his first daughter who died when she was nine months old.
The three were apparently exhumed without consulting the rest of the Mandela family and the elders of the AbaThembu royal house, into which Mr Mandela was born.
As Nelson Mandela's oldest male heir, Mandla was made a local chief
Disturbing the dead is considered a bad omen in traditional culture.
A battle for power? Some relatives and elders believe that Mr Mandela's recurrent illness is a message from the ancestors, a sign that they are unhappy with Mandla.
Continue reading the main story
Nelson Mandela's children
With Evelyn Mase:- Thembekile born 1945, died 1969
- Makaziwe born 1947, died aged nine months
- Makgatho born 1950, died 2005
- Makaziwe, born 1954
- Zenani born 1959
- Zindziswa born 1960
They believe Mr Mandela's spirit is troubled by the feuds in his family and that is why he is not "letting go".
There are 16 applicants in the exhumation case, reportedly
including Mr Mandela's wife Graca Machel, his daughter Makaziwe and
senior members of the AbaThembu clan. Underlying this dispute, and others, is the question: "Who will replace Mr Mandela as head of the family?"
As his oldest male heir, the former South African president nominated Mandla as chief Zwelivelile of the Thembu people, to succeed his father. He is also an MP with the governing African National Congress (ANC).
But many within the family are becoming increasingly unhappy with him, including Makaziwe, who is the oldest of Mandela's surviving children.
His plans to open a heritage centre in Mvezo, in the estate where the graves are at the moment, have left a bitter taste in the mouths of many within the family.
Mandla Mandela is building a centre dedicated to his grandfather
The two want control over the companies said to be worth millions of dollars.
Unfinished business Makaziwe last week convened an urgent "ibhunga" - traditional meeting - in which Mandla was apparently chastised by family elders for moving the remains of his relatives to begin with.
Makaziwe is Nelson Mandela's oldest living child
Some believe the ailing family head needs to see this matter resolved before he can be at peace.
According to "isintu" - traditional South African culture - one of the reasons a person fights death is because they have "unfinished business".
Some believe that Mr Mandela's "unfinished business" is unifying his divided family the same way he united black and white South Africans after ending apartheid in 1994.
According to local culture, Mandla and his relatives will need to make peace before the bodies are exhumed.
The AbaThembu royal house has convened a meeting on 8 July in Qunu to try and resolve the matter, the Sapa news agency reports.
One of Mr Mandela's greatest personal pains was not seeing his children grow up - because he dedicated his life to politics and spent 27 years in prison for his opposition to white minority rule.
So while he could not be with them for most of his lifetime, his family wants to make sure that they are at least together for eternity.
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