A long-running tug-of-war over Nelson Mandela memorabilia has tipped in favor of his family. South Africa's Supreme Court of Appeal rejected an attempt by the country's heritage authority to block the sale and export of about 70 Mandela-linked items, clearing the way for them to be auctioned abroad. The BBC reports the collection includes a key to Mandela's cell on Robben Island—where he spent 18 of his 27 years in prison—along with his Aviator sunglasses, one of his trademark floral shirts, an ID card, a tennis racquet he used in prison, a signed copy of the 1996 constitution, a charcoal drawing, and gifts from foreign leaders, including Barack and Michelle Obama.
The items belong to Mandela's eldest daughter, Makaziwe Mandela, and former Robben Island warden Christo Brand. The South African Heritage Resources Agency had argued the objects were part of the national heritage and thus protected from export under the National Heritage Resources Act. The court found that reading of the law too expansive and noted that while Makaziwe and Brand had set out detailed reasons why their possessions should not be classified as heritage objects, the agency had failed to explain on what basis it believed they were. Makaziwe Mandela has said she wants to use sale proceeds to create a memorial garden at her father's grave in Qunu.
She welcomed the ruling and criticized the agency for assuming it knew "my father's last wishes better than those who were beside him at the end." The agency first intervened after a Daily Mail article published in the UK in December 2021 said the key was to be the big draw at an auction to be held by US auction house Guernsey's and might sell for a large amount, per Cape Times. The government has not said whether it will pursue other legal avenues in the debate over whether objects connected to Nelson Mandela should remain in public custody or be managed by his family. South Africa's first democratically elected president, he died in 2013.
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