NELSON Mandela’s grandson was accused last night of STEALING the bodies of three of the ailing statesman’s children.

NELSON Mandela’s grandson was accused last night of STEALING the bodies of three of the ailing statesman’s children.
Police launched a “grave-tampering” probe against Mandla Mandela, 39, after complaints from other family members.
Mandla, a wealthy tribal chief and MP, is alleged to have exhumed the remains without telling anyone and reburied them on his own land in a bid to make money out of visitors.
Now 16 relatives are demanding the bodies are returned to Mr Mandela’s home village so all the graves can be turned into a shrine for pilgrims.

Cynics say the row — which has clouded the 94-year-old former South African president’s final days — is all about cashing in on the multi-million pound legacy of his name.
One source said: “Each side of the family wants the whole cake. It is money-grabbing at its worst.”
The row centres on the bodies of Mr Mandela’s infant daughter Makaziwe and grown-up sons Thembi and Makgatho, who died between 1948 and 2005.
All three were buried in a humble family cemetery in Qunu, the village where Mr Mandela grew up. He has always said he wanted to be laid to rest with them.
But in 2010 Mandla exhumed their bodies without asking permission and reburied them 25 miles away in Mvezo, where he has a £4million holiday resort.
Sources say he hoped it would lead to Mr Mandela being buried there too and that he could profit from people flocking to see the last resting place of the anti-apartheid legend. But relatives led by Mr Mandela’s eldest daughter Makaziwe, 59, went to court last week to get an order to make Mandla return the bones.
Yesterday a judge warned Mandla that if he fails to comply sheriffs will carry out the exhumations forcibly.