Nelson
Mandela wrote a will on a single sheet of A4 paper in which he asked to
be buried on a remote hillside in his ancestral home of Qunu, it has
emerged.
The
former South African president, 94, remains in a critical but stable
condition in hospital in Pretoria where he has spent the last 21 days
being treated for a lung infection.
In
January 1996, while still serving as president, Mr Mandela reportedly
drew up a rudimentary will in which he asked for a simple burial close
to the village where he grew up on the Eastern cape.
He
said that while he would be happy with a state memorial service in
Pretoria he wanted to buried in the family plot with just a simple
headstone to mark the site of his grave.
The
South African Mail and Guardian reported a long-standing family friend
as saying: ‘He never gave death a great deal of thought, but he never
wanted anything fancy’.
Despite
the fact that sales of Mr Mandela’s book Long Walk To Freedom, and
artworks bearing his name, had earned him millions in royalties his will
was reportedly presented on a single sheet of A4 paper.
According
to South Africa’s national broadcaster SABC, the question of Mr
Mandela’s final resting place has this week sparked a bitter family
feud.
Mr
Mandela’s oldest daughter, Makaziwe, and 15 other family members have
pressed a court application to get Mr Mandela’s grandson to return the
bodies of three of Mr Mandela’s children to their original graves in
Qunu.
The
grandson, Mandla Mandela, acknowledges having reburied the three bodies
13 miles away in the Mvezo village, where he plans to create a Mandela
shrine, hotel and football stadium.
Mandla
Mandela has until tomorrow to respond to the court filing, reports
said.
Nelson
Mandela built his retirement home in Qunu and was living there until
his repeated hospital stays which started at the end of last year.
The
anti-apartheid leader attended the burial of his son at the family plot
in Qunu in 2005, and it was widely expected that the leader himself
will be buried there.
But
his grandson exhumed the bodies of Mr Mandela’s three children and
moved them to nearby Mvezo, which is the former president’s birthplace
and the grandson holds authority as chief.
Eldest
daughter Makaziwe and other Mandela family members want the family
bodies returned to their original graves in Qunu, according to the
reports.
Today
U.S. President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama are due to
meet with family members but they will not visit Mr Mandela in hospital.
‘Out
of deference to Nelson Mandela’s peace and comfort and the family’s
wishes, they will not be visiting the hospital,’ the White House added
in a statement.
Yesterday
Mr Mandela ex-wife said his condition had improved.
Winnie
Madikizela-Mandela told reporters: ‘I’m not a doctor but I can say that
from what he was a few days ago there is great improvement’.
Ms
Madikizela-Mandela pleaded with the media to ‘understand the
sensitivities and the feeling of the family’
