Mandela’s grandson among five arrested for alleged hijacking

Former president Nelson Mandela‘s grandson is among five suspects who were arrested for possession of an allegedly hijacked vehicle and an unlicenced firearm in Houghton, Johannesburg.

The five males and a female were arrested on Wednesday, 8 January, at the former stateman’s dilapidated house in Houghton.

NELSON MANDELA’S GRANDSON ARRESTED

Johannesburg Metro Police Department (JMPD) spokesperson Xolani Fihla told Newzroom Afrika that a Toyta Corolla was hijacked in Oaklands on Wednesday morning and was found in Mandela’s house.

Fihla said JMPD’s tactical response unit received information from the vehicle’s tracking company about the Toyota Corolla that was hijacked alongside Louis Botha Avenue.

“Information then led our officers to the premises in Houghton which we understand used to be owned by former president Nelson Mandela. Upon arrival at the premises, police found the hijacked vehicle and also found an unlicenced firearm,” he explained.

Fihla said the victim who was hijacked has since opened a case at the Vosloorus Police Station.

He also revealed that the female suspect is allegedly renting the property.

PLANS TO FIX FORMER STATEMAN’S HOUSE HALTED

In February 2024, the Collen Mashawana Foundation, in collaboration with the Gauteng Provincial Government, announced plans to fix the house.

The once-elegant Houghton home which hosted world leaders including Oprah Winfrey, Naomi Campbell and Michael Jackson while the former Statesman was alive. The multi-million rand property has been abandoned and is now marred by overgrown lawns and rubbish.

Shortly after Mandela died in 2013, the house was occupied by his grandchildren Ndaba, Mbuso, and Andile, and they moved out in 2020. The three are the sons of the late Makgatho Mandela, the late president’s son by his first wife, Evelyn.

Ndaba Mandela alleged that they moved out after the Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela (NRM) Family Trust stopped paying the utility bills in 2020.

Ndaba accused former Deputy Chief Justice Dikgang Moseneke, a trustee of the Nelson Mandela Family Trust and advocate Wim Trengove, of not paying the utility bills to kick him and his siblings out because many people wanted to buy the house.

As previously reported by The South African, in 2021, Moseneke said that the trust stopped paying the bills because they shot up from about R15 000 per month to about R50 000 per month without any explanation and that the trust paid R1.4 million in utility bills since 2017.