MANDELA FAMILY SAGA CONTINUES!!

THE remains of three of Nelson Mandela’s children were exhumed Wednesday after a South African court ruled that the former president's grandson, Mandla Mandela, must return them to their original burial site. The macabre drama played out as Mandela remained in "perilous" condition and on life support in Pretoria hospital, according to an affidavit filed last Friday and made public in the ruling Wednesday.

The graves are those of Mandela's eldest son Madiba Thembekile, who died in a car accident in 1969; Mandla’s father Makgatho Mandela, who died in 2005; and Mandela's first daughter Makaziwe Mandela, who died as an infant in 1948. Mandla moved the bodies from Mandela's hometown in Qunu in 2011 to his birthplace of Mvezo, about 25 km away. He is chief of Mvezo and has plans to create a Mandela shrine, hotel and soccer stadium in the area. Mandla had claimed that Mvezo was the birthplace of the Mandelas and held historic significance. According to a family member, Mandla refused to explain why he had moved the graves without consulting the family and stormed out of a meeting in Qunu last week when he was ordered to return the remains. A community member took him to court last year for digging up community graves to build the hotel. The case has yet to be heard. However, the Eastern Cape High Court last Friday granted members of the Mandela family, led by Mandela's eldest daughter Makaziwe, an order compelling Mandla to return the remains to Qunu.

He challenged the ruling, but lost. A Judge found on Wednesday that his actions were "scandalous" and "vicious" and ordered the sheriff of the court to exhume the graves in Mvezo and move them to the family farm in Qunu. Mandla challenged this ruling too, and lost again as a second judge found his application to have the judgment rescinded was "frivolous". Meanwhile, the family has also brought criminal charges of tampering with a grave against him

"The investigation started (on Tuesday) after the case was opened," said Fatyela. He said the charge was laid by members of the Mandela family, but he would not name them. Late Wednesday afternoon, an official in the sheriff's office used a pickaxe to break open the gate to the Mvezo Village, allowing three hearses and police vans to enter. With them were Makaziwe Mandela and her grandson Ndaba Mandela.

Health officials started digging for the remains, and had found them by early evening. Eastern Cape police said the bodies would undergo forensic tests before being taken to Qunu on Thursday. "The bodies remain at a mortuary in Mthatha," Lieutenant Colonel Mzukisi Fatyela said. They would be taken for forensic testing Thursday morning, and would only then be transported to Qunu for reburial, he added. Mandela meanwhile, remained critically ill on Wednesday in a Pretoria hospital, where he is being treated for a recurring lung infection. The family, in an affidavit filed in court, described his condition as "perilous".

Many in South Africa hope that by moving the children's graves back to the Mandela family plot in Qunu, Nelson Mandela will now get his wish for a burial at Qunu."The reason why they had to do this in a rush-rush is because they are definite now that he is going to die. So he does not have to die without his dying wish (burial in Qunu) having been fulfilled," said Mlawu Tyatyeka, an expert on the Xhosa culture of Mandela's family.

"By the time they will bury Mandela they want to have everything in place."

The case over the graves is only a part of a larger family battle over how to use the Mandela name and the millions of dollars in wealth Mandela will leave behind.There is a "House of Mandela" wine label and two granddaughters are starring in a U.S. television reality show titled "Being Mandela."

Some family members are also trying to oust several old allies of the former president from control of two companies. That dispute is headed for the courts. Wednesday's case has captivated a nation that has received only periodic updates on Mandela's health over the last 26 days, since Mandela was admitted to a hospital early on a Saturday morning for a recurring lung infection.