Royal Role for Mandela Grandson
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa — Nelson Mandela and tribal royalty from across South Africa gathered at the former president’s birthplace yesterday to witness his grandson reclaim the royal position he renounced to fight apartheid.
Mandla Mandela, 32, was installed as head of the Mvezo Traditional Council by the King of the AbaThembu, Zwelibanzi Dalindyebo, one of six kings of the Xhosa people, at the village of Mvezo in the Eastern Cape.
It was the first time in nearly 70 years that a member of the Mandela family from the royal Madiba clan has taken up the mantle of traditional leadership.
Mr. Mandela’s father, Henry, was stripped of his right to become a chief in the early 1900s after he defied a local magistrate. The anti-apartheid icon decided to become a lawyer and fight the white racist regime rather than take up the traditional role of tribal chief, and he has no sons that are alive.
