Nelson Mandela’s growing clan of grandchildren and great-grandchildren looked happy and relaxed as they gathered in a suburb of Johannesburg this week to celebrate his longtime personal chef, who was launching a cookbook of his favourite recipes.
But while many family members joined the gathering, one grandson was conspicuous by his absence: Mr. Mandela’s chosen heir, Mandla Mandela, who is embroiled in scandal and controversy over his multiple marriages and his alleged land grabs in the village where Nelson Mandela was born.
The political furor over his grandson has contributed to a difficult few months for the Mandela family. His last surviving sibling, Nokuthamba, died last week at the age of 81.
Mr. Mandela himself, 93, is in frail health and has not made any public appearances since the closing ceremonies of the soccer World Cup in July 2010.
His family is often obliged to deny the persistent false rumors that he has been hospitalized or even died. But because of tensions within the family and between some family members and the Mandela Foundation, information about his health is often slow to emerge.
Last Sunday, due to maintenance work, Mr. Mandela was forced to vacate his retirement villa in Qunu, the village in the Eastern Cape where he grew up. He was taken by wheelchair and ambulance to a nearby airport and then flown to Johannesburg.
Official video clips and photos of him have been scarce in recent months. He has not been in hospital since last January, but his health is carefully monitored by doctors and nurses in Qunu and at his current home in Houghton, a Johannesburg suburb.
His grandson, Mandla, is a prominent member of South Africa’s ruling party, the African National Congress. He was also appointed the traditional chief of Mvezo, the small impoverished village where Nelson Mandela was born. But senior leaders of the ANC are now seeking a meeting with him to discuss the growing controversy over his personal life and his conduct in the village.
One of the biggest controversies is Mandla’s attempts at polygamy. While still married to his estranged first wife, he has held traditional marriage ceremonies with two other women, in defiance of court orders obtained by his first wife. The latest ceremony was in December.
In a separate court battle, Mandla faces a legal action by three families in Mvezo who accuse him of seizing their land for commercial development for a hotel and stadium. They say he has illegally grabbed land in the village on past occasions as well.
The families were granted a court order last October to prohibit Mandla from proceeding with developments on the land, but Mandla is fighting the order.
“The thing with Mandla is out of hand,” one village chief was quoted as saying in a South African newspaper last month. “He is tarnishing the Mandela name with all these wives he marries and wants to marry. He feels he is a law unto (himself) and does not even want to listen to anyone.”
While those conflicts continue to linger in the background, most of the Mandela descendants were in a more upbeat mood this week as they honoured Mr. Mandela’s personal chef, Xoliswa Ndoyiya, who has cooked for the family for 20 years.
She recently published a cookbook with more than 60 recipes, including traditional African dishes such as oxtail stew, sweet chicken, lamb tripe, and maize and beans – all favourites of South Africa’s first democratic president.
“Ma Xoli has been the family’s best-kept secret,” said Luvuyu Mandela, a great-grandson of Mr. Mandela, in a speech to the celebration.
“More than just someone who prepared meals, she was a parent to a lot of us.”
Source: The Globe and Mail
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