SAHRA not against sale of Mandela's belongings, but says due process must be followed first
In December, the High Court in Pretoria ruled against the agency in its bid to wrest control of various items linked to the iconic former statesman that were scheduled to be auctioned in 2022.
FILE: Former South African President, Nelson Mandela. Photo: Wikimedia Commons/Library of the London School of Economics and Political Science
JOHANNESBURG - The South African Heritage Resource Agency (SAHRA) said it was not against the sale of items belonging to former President Nelson Mandela but that due process needed to be followed first.
The High Court in Pretoria in December ruled against the agency in its bid to wrest control of various items linked to the iconic former statesman.
The items were set to go under the hammer in New York in 2022.
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The auction was halted after SAHRA intervened, claiming they were heritage objects and that Mandela's daughter, Makaziwe Mandela, together with his ex-lawyer-turned-friend, Christo Brand, shipped them out of the country illegally.
After the court's ruling, the auction was rescheduled for 22 February 2024, but in the face of an appeal bid from SAHRA, it's now been suspended again.
“We don’t even contest the sale of these items. What we do contest is that when these items are taken from South Africa, it is very important you follow due process, which is prescribed in our legislation, it’s also further prescribed in regulations,” said SAHRA spokesperson Ben Mwasinga.
He said the status of these items remains unknown until the agency assesses them.
“We then engage with a panel of experts - people that are specialised in their various fields. We also provide a platform where all interested and affected parties can give a comment on whether or not they feel these items should be exported or sold.”