By Joe Udo
CAPE TOWN (CONVERSEER) – A South African court has rejected an attempt by the country’s heritage authority to block the sale and export of artefacts linked to former President Nelson Mandela.
The Supreme Court of Appeal ruled that the South African Heritage Resources Agency (SAHRA) lacked the legal basis to prevent the sale of the objects, which are set to be exported to the United States for auction. The collection comprises about 70 items associated with Mandela’s life and legacy.
The items include personal belongings such as a cell key from Robben Island, where Mandela spent 18 years of his imprisonment, a pair of sunglasses, and one of his floral shirts. Also listed are a signed copy of South Africa’s 1996 Constitution, a tennis racquet Mandela used while incarcerated, drawings, identification documents, and gifts from world leaders, including former United States President Barack Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama.
Ownership of the items is shared between Mandela’s eldest daughter, Makaziwe Mandela, and Christo Brand, a former Robben Island prison warden who later developed a close relationship with Mandela.
SAHRA had argued that the objects formed part of South Africa’s national heritage and should not be sold or removed from the country. The agency said it became aware of the proposed auction in 2021 through a newspaper report and subsequently contacted the United States-based auction house in an effort to halt the sale.
However, the court found that SAHRA had applied heritage legislation too broadly. The judges ruled that the agency failed to clearly justify why the items should be legally classified as protected heritage objects, while the owners had provided detailed explanations supporting their position that the items did not fall under such protection.
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Makaziwe Mandela welcomed the ruling, stating that the agency had wrongly assumed it understood her father’s wishes better than his family. She said the family remained committed to preserving Nelson Mandela’s legacy.
She added that no final decision had been taken on whether the items would now be sold. The proceeds from the planned auction were originally intended to fund a memorial garden at Mandela’s grave in Qunu, in South Africa’s Eastern Cape province.
It remains unclear whether the government will pursue further legal action to prevent the sale. Officials from the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture have yet to comment on the ruling.
Nelson Mandela died in 2013 at the age of 95. He was released from prison in 1990, became South Africa’s first Black president in 1994, and received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993 for his role in ending apartheid.
