Rifts revealed after Mandela ceremony
VILLAGERS in Qunu mingled with members of the Mandela family at a ritual at the weekend to mark the end of the traditional mourning period, six months after former president Nelson Mandela died.
Although the South African media were barred, a documentary film crew following the life of Mandela's former wife, Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, were allowed in.
The service took place just before sensational revelations by Mandela's personal assistant for 19 years, Zelda la Grange, were published in the Sunday Times in the lead-up to the release of her memoirs, Good Morning, Mr Mandela.
La Grange said family squabbles at his deathbed became so intense that Mandela's wife, Graca Machel, had to get accreditation to attend her husband's funeral and the Machel family was only allocated four places at the event. La Grange also lifted the lid on an incident in which Advocate George Bizos, Mandela's most trusted friend and member of his Rivonia trial legal defence team, and La Grange went to greet the mourning Mandela family at his Qunu home, but were refused entry through the front door.
Bizos and La Grange had to enter through the kitchen door where Mandela's eldest daughter from his first marriage to Evelyn Mase, Makaziwe, apparently said: "We don't want you people in the house."
On Saturday, there was no outward signs of tension when the black mourning garments worn by his widows, Nosizwe (Graca Machel) and Nobandla (Winnie) were burnt in line with AmaDlomo and AbaThembu clan customs.
Also, family affairs which were put on hold to observe the mourning period can now begin.
AbaThembu King Buyelekhaya Dalindyebo, who shunned the funeral, attended the low-key two-day event which started on Saturday.
The often-quiet Dalibhunga (Mandela's clan name) mansion was a hive of activity as members of the AmaDlomo and AbaThembu clans, government ministers and politicians arrived in convoys.
Among the guests were in-laws from Mozambique and Bizana, the birthplaces of Machel and Madikizela-Mandela, respectively. They brought gifts, including new blankets, a bed, dishes, and traditional woven baskets which were shared among the two wives.
Two beasts and four sheep were slaughtered.
AbaThembu royal family spokesman Daludumo Mtirara said the next stage of the mourning would be the slaughtering of a cow to "return" Madiba's soul within a year of his death.
A white tent erected inside the homestead property was abandoned due to gale-force winds. - Loyiso Mpalantshane
