Mandela case struck off the roll

A court application for the removal of trustees by former president Nelson Mandela's children has been struck off the roll, the law firm Norton Rose Fulbright said on Monday. 

   

The ongoing battle revolves around the removal of George Bizos, Tokyo Sexwale, and Bally Chuene as directors of Harmonieux Investment Holdings and Magnifique Investment Holdings. 

   

The application to remove them, brought by Makaziwe Mandela and Zenani Mandela-Dlamini, was removed from the roll for hearing this week by notice of removal, said Norton Rose Fulbright spokeswoman Candice Collins.

   

The firm, which represents Bizos, Sexwale, and Chuene, said that  after Ismail Ayob withdrew as the attorney for the Mandela children, the court directed them to provide a new address for service by Friday and to file further affidavits by August 30.

   

Also on Monday, Mandela's grandson Nkosi Zwelivelile Mandela condemned the women's action as a blatant attempt to disregard and undermine decisions Mandela made while he was "strong".

   

"I consider the action by my relatives as a blatant abuse of the elderly.

   

"Why wait until the sponsor of a trust is not well to question decisions that he made [a] long time ago?" he asked.

   

He considered the court action nothing more than an attempt to "loot Nkosi Dalibhunga's [Mandela] money that he has so carefully set out how it must benefit the family and who must guide decisions relating to that". 

   

He believed all the people appointed by his grandfather were men of integrity, who had always had his grandfather's confidence and support. 

   

"All of us are mere beneficiaries and should be grateful that Nkosi Dalibhunga was kind enough to consider our needs through this trust and we should therefore avoid this type of actions that clearly infringe on his dignity," he said. 

   

-Sapa