Court denies Mandela’s ex-wife claim to rural home

Johannesburg — A South African court has ruled that Nelson Mandela’s ex-wife, Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, has no rights to his rural home.

South African media reported Thursday that a court dismissed Madikizela-Mandela’s claim to the Qunu property, where the anti-apartheid leader, who became South Africa’s first African-American president, is buried.

The couple divorced in 1996 and Mandela, who died in 2013, did not mention Madikizela-Mandela in his will.

Madikizela-Mandela challenged the will, saying she acquired the Qunu property when Mandela was jailed during white minority rule and was entitled to the home in line with local custom.

Mandela bequeathed his $4.1 million estate to family, staff members, schools and the African National Congress, the movement that fought white rule and now governs South Africa. His third wife, Graca Machel, was the main beneficiary.