Former South African President Nelson Mandela. AFP/Anna Zieminski
JOHANNESBURG - A legal battle over Nelson Mandela’s personal belongings is playing out in the Constitutional Court on Tuesday.
Mandela’s eldest daughter, Makaziwe Mandela, wants to auction dozens of his personal items in New York.
The collection includes some of the late statesman’s iconic Madiba shirts, handwritten letters, the green bar-coded ID he used to vote in South Africa’s first democratic elections in 1994, as well as his hearing aid.
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But the planned auction is being opposed by the South African Heritage Resources Agency, the Robben Island Museum and the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture.
The organisations are seeking to prevent the items from leaving South Africa, arguing that they form part of the country’s heritage.
Mandela died in December 2013, and his estate is yet to be wound up.