Mandela’s prison key, sunglasses, shirt can be sold after daughter wins court battle

A South African court has dismissed an appeal by the country’s heritage body to stop the sale and export of various artefacts connected to anti-apartheid hero Nelson Mandela.

The 70 personal items include a cell key from Robben Island, where Mandela was imprisoned for 18 of the 27 years he was locked up, a pair of Aviator sunglasses and one of his signature floral shirts. They were due to be exported to the US for auction.

The objects belong to his eldest daughter, Makaziwe Mandela and Christo Brand, a Robben Island warden during Mandela’s incarceration.

In trying to stop their sale, the authorities said they were part of the country’s heritage and were therefore legally protected from export.

The South African Heritage Resources Agency (Sahra) first found out about the potential sale in a British newspaper article from late 2021, claiming that the key would go for more than £1m ($1.35m).

The agency then wrote to the US auction house, Guernsey, that was planning the sale to ask it to suspend the auction and return the assets to South Africa.

Other items in the lot were a copy of the 1996 South African Constitution personally signed by Mandela, one of his charcoal drawings, an ID card, a tennis racquet he used on Robben Island and gifts from world leaders, including one from former US President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle.

Mandela’s daughter wanted to use the proceeds from the sale to build a memorial garden at the late former resident’s grave in Qunu, in Mthatha, Eastern Cape province.

In its ruling, the Supreme Court of Appeal argues that Sahra’s interpretation of what items fell under the National Heritage Resources Act was overly broad.

The ruling also states that whereas Makaziwe and Brand explained in detail why their respective assets were not heritage objects, Sahra made no attempt to explain on what grounds it believed they were.

It is not yet clear whether the authorities will seek other legal avenues to block the sale. The BBC has contacted the sport, arts and culture department for comment.

Makaziwe, Mandela’s only daughter with his first wife, welcomed the Supreme Court’s judgment, blasting the heritage agency for presuming “to know my father’s last wishes better than those who were beside him at the end – his family”.

“Nobody is more invested in ensuring Tata’s [Mandela’s] legacy endures in the way he would want to be remembered than those who carry his name,” she said.

She added that no decision had yet been made on what would happen to the items meant to go on auction.

Some supporters of the government’s position argued that items connected to Mandela should not be sold or exported but instead kept in South Africa for future generations.

Others believe that Mandela’s family should decide what happens to the objects.

Mandela died in 2013 at the age of 95. He led the African National Congress in its struggle against apartheid – a system of legally enforced racism – and was released from prison in 1990.

He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993 along with then-President FW de Klerk.

Mandela became South Africa’s first democratically elected president in 1994.