Accusations of theft stand at the centre of the controversial, now-cancelled US auction of items and artefacts belonging to late president Nelson Mandela.

On January 28, New York-based Guernsey’s auction house was due to put up for bid about 100 of Mandela’s personal items, ranging from his iconic patterned shirts and gifts from former US president Barack Obama and other heads of state, to some of the statesman’s personal effects such as glasses and briefcases.

The auction was planned to raise money for a memorial garden at Mandela’s burial site in Qunu in the Eastern Cape. But it was the inclusion of a key to Mandela’s cell in Robben Island – offered to the auction by his former prison guard Christo Brand – that caused consternation and resulted in the involvement of the arts and culture ministry. Ultimately, Brand said he would withdraw the item from auction.

But now it appears the auction has been completely cancelled.

There is no longer any reference to the auction on the Guernsey’s website, and US news site Page Six, quoting Guernsey’s president Arlan Ettinger, said the auction was no longer going ahead as “we had a major controversy”.

Ettinger was also quoted as saying the SA Heritage Resources Agency (SAHRA) “determined that these items were potential national treasures, and hence when something is designated [as such], it requires permits to leave SA”. He added the “Mandela family didn’t apply for permits because they didn’t know they had to”.

Our sister publication Sunday Times Daily has reached out to Guernsey’s and the SAHRA for comment.

At the centre of the auction controversy, however, are allegations that Mandela's daughter Makaziwe Mandela removed the items from Mandela’s Houghton house. Sunday Times Daily contacted Makaziwe on Friday morning, but after the reporter introduced himself, she immediately cut the call. There was also no response to text and WhatsApp messages requesting comment.

Ndaba Mandela, Mandela's grandson, said on Friday that in March last year, while he was not at the Houghton home, Makaziwe came to the house and started “removing” various items.

He said his younger brother, Andile, was at the house at the time.

He said Makaziwe “removed the bed, paintings, carpets, you name it ...”

He said he then opened theft charges against Makaziwe at the Norwood police station in Johannesburg.

SAPS spokesperson Lt-Col Mavela Masondo said: “A case of theft was opened at the Norwood police station. Statements were obtained from the witnesses and warning statement obtained from the suspect. The docket was then taken to court for a decision. Police are still waiting for a decision from court,” Masondo said.

Ndaba said his aunt went “rogue” and did not have the family’s go-ahead for the auction. “This is not a family feud. One member of the family decided that it’s her right – or whatever it may be – and will benefit individually. She may have put some money into the memorial guardian ... but we would not have seen a single rand of that money.

“Why wouldn’t she tell us that this is her plan?  If it was that honest and open, why didn’t she tell us? If it was that ... we would have, as a family, voted to maybe take some of my grandfather’s items and put them up for auction in America.

Ndaba said that several family members had rallied around him in trying to stop the auction taking place.

In an email to Ettinger dated November 2021,US-based legal counsel Eric S Lerner, acting on behalf of Ndaba and other family members, said that some of the items up for bid were “taken without requisite permission from [Mandela’s] former residence at 9 12th Avenue, Houghton Estate, Johannesburg ... by Makaziwe Mandela-Amuah on March 13 2021”.

“We have also been in contact with president Mandela’s daughter, ambassador Zenani Mandela, who expressed her support of the family members in this matter and shared her deep concern over, and objection to, her father’s improperly obtained items being auctioned by Guernsey’s.

“The family members assert that the auction is offering at least 11 items of great value, 10 of president Mandela's iconic shirts and his passport, that were... removed from the Houghton home under highly questionable circumstances ... without permission,” the letter reads.

SAHRA CEO Adv Lungisa Malgas confirmed that the export of these “heritage items” was against the law. There were 33 items that were under consideration, she said.

“The exportation of these protected objects was done in contravention of section 32 (19) of the National Heritage Resources Act (NHRA), No. 25 of 1999, which is applicable to both private and state-owned property. The NHRA makes provision for penalties in this regard.

“The objects associated with significant figures, events and national leaders in SA’s history form part of the National Estate of SA and, as such, when exported must follow the permit application process by SAHRA as mandated by the NHRA.