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Executor Dikgang Moseneke, the deputy head of South Africa's Constitutional Court, said the reading had been "charged with emotion" but no one had yet contested it.
Lawyers
for Mandela revealed that his third
wife Graca Machel would likely waive her right to 50 percent of the estate,
settling for four properties in her native Mozambique as well as cars, art
work, jewellery and other assets.
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| WinnieMandela |
His
estranged second wife Winnie Madikizela–Mandela was not named as a beneficiary
in a summary of the will.
Royalties
from his books and other projects, as well as his homes, will be split between
family members, who have long bickered over the spoils of his legacy.
Mandela's upscale home in Houghton,
Johannesburg where he died on December 5 will be used by the family
of his deceased son Makgatho -- including grandson and local clan chief Mandla
Mandela.
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| Nelson Mandela with his third wife Graca Machel |
"It
is my wish that it should also serve as a place of gathering of the Mandela and Machel family in order to maintain its
unity long after death," the former elder statesman wrote.
Even
before his death, Mandela's children and grandchildren frequently clashed over
who leads the family and who should benefit from his investments.
Several
have already put the Mandela brand behind commercial projects including wine,
clothing, artwork, a social network and a reality television show.
 |
| Nelson Mandela surrounded by grandchildren |
According
to the will, which was first written in 2004, Mandela's children each received
$300,000 in loans during his lifetime and will have the debt scrapped if it has
not been repaid.
Mandela's other bequests reflected
his political life and his work championing education.
"He
wanted to make it clear that what he believed in his life, or during his life,
was transmitted to the country if not the world at large," said George
Bizos, one of the executors who also represented Mandela at his treason trial.
 |
| Nelson Mandela surrounded by family |
Mandela
gave around $4,500 each to members of staff, including long-time personal aide
Zelda la Grange.
The
will also provides around $9,000 each for Wits and Fort Hare universities in
South Africa, and the same amount to three other schools.
The
African National Congress, which Mandela led to victory in the first democratic
elections in 1994, could receive between 10 and 30 percent of his royalties.
The
cash will be used specifically to promote "policies and principles of
reconciliation amongst the people of South Africa".
The ANC
-- which is struggling amid allegations of corruption and incompetence --
welcomed the news as a sign of Mandela's "unwavering love for his people
and their organisation, the ANC".
It is
unclear if the will can prevent battles over who controls the Mandela name,
which have seen family remains exhumed and reinterred and exhumed and
reinterred again.
 |
| Makaziwe Mandela |
His
eldest daughter Makaziwe reportedly had the locks changed on Mandela's rural
home after his death to exclude his eldest grandson Mandla.
Makaziwe
and Mandla both lay claim to lead the family as Mandela left no instructions in
his will about who should take up his mantle.
 |
| Mandla Mandela |
Three
executors will now be tasked with winding up the estate and carrying out
Mandela's wishes.
They
are Bizos; Moseneke, the deputy head of the Constitutional Court who spent
years with Mandela imprisoned on Robben Island; and Themba Sangoni, the head
judge in Mandela's home province the Eastern Cape.
Mandela
became South Africa's first black president after the first all-race elections
in 1994 and his politics of forgiveness and reconciliation made him a global
peace icon.
He died
on December 5 and was buried 10 days later in his rural boyhood home
of Qunu after a state memorial service attended by dignitaries
from around the world.
An adaptation of HCC
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