The new owners of former President Nelson Mandela’s multimillion-rand house in Houghton, northern Johannesburg, have applied for a court order to evict his grandchildren, Mbuso and Ndaba Mandela, from the property. The applicants in the eviction case are Iterele Investment Corporation and its directors, Petrus Gcinumuzi Malindi and William Henry Trengove. They have sought an injunction from the Johannesburg High Court demanding that Ndaba and Mbuso vacate the house within seven days of being served with the order.
The eviction application names the Mandela grandchildren as respondents, alongside the City of Johannesburg. The owners want the court to order that the Mandela grandsons and anyone occupying the property through them be evicted and prohibited from entering the home.
The house was the late former statesman Nelson Mandela’s residence, which he shared with his widow Graça Machel. Since Mandela’s passing, the property has been the center of disputes involving family members, with Mbuso and Ndaba Mandela living there but reportedly homeless and in conflict over the house’s future.
The Mandela family has been divided over plans to renovate and possibly turn the house into a museum versus keeping it as a private family home. Mbuso and Ndaba oppose the museum plan and want the house to remain in the family.
The eviction request and ongoing family tensions highlight the complex disputes about Mandela’s legacy and estate. The Mandela grandchildren’s reportedly poor living conditions have also drawn public sympathy and concern as they face eviction from a property deeply connected to their heritage.
This legal move by the new owners to forcibly remove Mandela’s grandchildren marks a significant, painful chapter in the ongoing saga surrounding the fate of Nelson Mandela’s historic Johannesburg home.