Anais Grimaud and Mandla Mandela present 'their' son Qheya to Nelson
Mandela last year.
The relationship started badly enough when Mandla Mandela, 38, was
accused of bigamy when he wed French teenager Anais Grimaud while
still married to his first wife.
Now the Frenchwoman has left him after the South African political
chief discovered that the couple's baby son was born to one of his own
brothers.
The cuckold scandal is just the latest in a series of controversies
involving Mandla Mandela, whom Nelson Mandela anointed as his
political heir.
As well as being a South African MP, Mandla Mandela is a chief in the
important Thembu tribe and handles much of Nelson Mandela's legacy.
More significant, however, is that as grandson of the universally
respected 94-year-old he is the public face of the Mandela family.
The 38-year-old politics graduate married his first wife, Tanda
Mabunu-Mandela, at a traditional ceremony in 2004.
Six years later he married Mme Grimaud, who is from the island of
Reunion, a French overseas territory in the Indian Ocean.
On marriage Madame Grimaud gained the tribal name Nkosikazi Nobubele Mandela.
The couple's son was born in September last year and was named Qheya
by Nelson Mandela himself.
The marriage was marred however, by the fact that at the time they
tied the knot Mandla remained officially married to his first wife.
Ms Mabunu-Mandela fought the Grimaud marriage in the law courts and it
was last year declared unlawful.
Mandla's personal affairs became even more complicated last Christmas
when he reportedly married a Swazi princess, Nodiyala Mbali
Makhathini.
Until now both she and Madame Grimaud appeared to have been happy with
this polygamous arrangement, although its precise legal status is
unclear.
Today, however, a statement issued on behalf of the politician
revealed details of the explosive end to the Grimaud marriage.
'The Mandela family has sent my wife Nkosikazi Nobubele Mandela (nee
Anais Grimaud) back to her home after it was discovered she has been
having an affair with one of my brothers', the statement read.
'I confirm this affair resulted in a son that Nkosikazi Nobubele gave
birth to in 2011. I can also confirm DNA tests conducted have
confirmed the child is not mine.
'The revelation of this affair has come as a shock to me and the rest
of my family. It has been made more painful because it is my own
brother who is at the centre of the crisis.'
The statement did not identify which of Mandla Mandela's three
brothers is the father.
Mandla is the oldest, born in 1974, followed by Ndaba (1983), Mbusu
(1991) and Andile (1993).
Ndaba Mandela was quoted in The Sowetan as saying the child was not
his, adding: 'Nobody knows who the father is, but I can confidently
confirm that it was not me.
'Mandla told me that he was not the father. She [Grimaud] left because
of their problems; the child's paternity was probably one of the main
reasons. I have never touched her in a physical or sexual way.'
Mandla is the first son of Makgatho Lewanika Mandela, an attorney who
died of Aids in 2005. His second wife, Hi Zondi Mandela, died in 2003
and, at first, her cause of death was given as pneumonia.
After Makgatho's death, Mandla announced that her pneumonia had been a
complication of ther HIV virus.
