9th October, 2013
One of Nelson Mandela’s grandsons is being investigated on suspicion of pointing a gun at another man during an argument, South African police said on Wednesday.
The grandson, Mandla Mandela, has not been arrested, police said in a statement, without releasing further details.
Freddy Pilusa, a spokesman for Mandla, was quoted as telling financial daily Business Day that the incident never happened and the accusation was “pure fabrication”.
Anti-apartheid leader and former president Nelson Mandela, 95, spent nearly three months in hospital this year for a lung infection that left him in critical condition. He has been receiving care at his Johannesburg home since early September.
Mandla Mandela, 39, hit the headlines this year when a judge ordered him to return the remains of three of Nelson Mandela’s children – including those of his father – from a memorial center dedicated to his grandfather where he had moved them two years ago.
Mandla had been sued by more than a dozen of Mandela’s relatives who wanted the remains returned. Mandla said as the local head of the family, it was within his rights to bury the remains on his property.
In all, Mandela fathered six children from his three marriages.