Mandelas in legal aid scam?

East London — Rhodes University Law Clinic this week confirmed that it had regarded some of the Mandela applicants, who took Mandla Mandela to court, as indigent and covered their costs. The Sunday Times reported that the Mandela family, considered to be South African royalty by virtue of former president Nelson Mandela’s stature, hardly appear to be “indigent”. The newspaper also reported that none of the Mandela applicants live in Grahamstown or surrounds and none of the students in the family is studying at Rhodes.

On its website, Rhodes Law Clinic states one of its primary objectives “the provision of free legal services to the indigent people of Grahamstown and the surrounding area, who cannot afford to pay a private practitioner”.

The deputy director of the law clinic, Wesley Hayes, has emerged as a central figure in the matter. He was the Mandelas’ instructing attorney when they approached the High Court in Mthatha earlier this month to have the remains of three of Nelson Mandela’s children removed from Mvezo and reburied at Qunu. Mandla Mandela has since reported Hayes to the Cape Law Society for “misleading” claims contained in court documents. — AP