Nelson Mandela home on 12th Avenue Houghton has been abandoned and left to ruin.
The Mandela family reportedly abandoned the mansion after the lights were cut off, allegedly due to non-payment of rates.
They moved out as they could not keep up with the monthly municipal services which increased from R15 000 a month to R50 000.
“There is a lot of collusion happening between the trustees and the executor of the estate. Everybody knows that if you sit on the board of a trust, you get a stipend for maintaining the trust. I believe these guys are working together to ensure that the maintenance of this house does not happen and there may be an agenda to sell the house,” Mandela’s grandchild, Mbuso Mandela said.
A trustee of the Nelson Mandela Trust, Wim Trengove, said the Houghton home belonged to a company called Itirele in which Mandela had shares, which are now held under his estate. Trengove indicated that the executors recently contacted him in an effort to authorise the transfer of the home by transferring the company to the trust.
However, the current state of the house has left many heartbroken.
[EXCLUSIVE] The last place former president #NelsonMandela called home has been abandoned. The mansion on 12th avenue in Houghton was being occupied by Mandela’s grandchildren but they moved out after the lights were cut due to unpaid utility bills – which according to his… pic.twitter.com/P5ZlWgliGT
— Silindelo Masikane (@Sli_Masikane) December 8, 2023