AbaThembu king moves to dethrone Mandela

AbaThembu King Buyelekhaya Dalindyebo remains resolute following his controversial announcement that Mandla Mandela, Nelson Mandela’s grandson, would be removed as traditional chief of Mvezo in the Eastern Cape over his anti-Israel activism. 

The king declared that Mandela “does not deserve” the chieftaincy, and accused him of being more concerned with Palestinians than with his own people in South Africa. 

“The decision to remove Mandla Mandela was based purely on his actions,” said the king’s daughter and spokesperson, Princess Ntando Dalindyebo. 

“Other than the fact that his chieftainship was already questionable, he continues publicly to insult and undermine the Royal House,” she told the SA Jewish Report. 

“While we are busy trying to save our own children here, he is saving children in Palestine. Let Palestine give him chieftaincy,” the king said. “He is no longer welcome here.” 

The announcement has triggered immediate legal and political questions, as provincial authorities and traditional leadership bodies have indicated that a king cannot unilaterally remove a recognised chief without following established traditional leadership procedures and constitutional processes. 

However, Princess Dalindyebo told the SA Jewish Report, “In the kingdom of AbaThembu, the king has the highest authority, no-one can challenge him. 

“As the kingship, we find that Mandla Mandela is not an honest man. After he was arrested for entering the state of Israel illegally, he went on social media to lie about being kidnapped. He then publicly tried to mobilise members of the ANC against the king. He cannot be trusted by the king,” she said. 

“He continues to bring shame and disrespect on the Royal House, and that behaviour can no longer be tolerated.” 

King Dalindyebo announced that three amakhosi were no longer recognised as chiefs, among them Mandela. The development has sparked debate within traditional leadership circles and raised legal and cultural questions. 

The king’s decision follows escalating tensions between the two men, linked to the king’s engagement with Israeli visitors in the Eastern Cape and Mandela’s outspoken anti-Israel activism. Mandela has referred media queries to the king’s office. 

South African Friends of Israel spokesperson Bafana Modise said, “For many years, the Madiba legacy has been used and abused and Mandla Mandela has always walked in the shadow of his grandfather’s name. However, he hasn’t offered anything to South Africans, and hasn’t done anything for the people of the Eastern Cape. 

“While the king was working to build a better life for the people of the Eastern Cape, Mandela chose Palestinians once again. The king has drawn a line between those who are for helping the Xhosa nation, and those who want to destroy what the people of that region would benefit from,” said Modise. 

“Mandla has been seen for who he is, an Islamist who chooses hatred of Israel even if Israel helps his own people, and the king has said, ‘Enough’.” 

Dalindyebo accused Mandela of disrespect and of failing to recognise royal authority. “A chief who doesn’t see eye to eye with me must take his belongings and leave my father’s land,” he said. Dalindyebo’s remarks were made during a gathering hosted by African Transformation Movement (ATM) President Professor Caesar Nongqunga. 

The Eastern Cape Traditional Affairs Department said Dalindyebo wasn’t empowered to dethrone traditional leaders without consultation with the premier. The Congress of Traditional Leaders of South Africa (Contralesa) said customary and constitutional processes must be followed, with Contralesa President Kgoshi Lameck Mokoena reportedly saying the removal of a chief couldn’t be done by individual decree. 

The dispute has unfolded against a geopolitical backdrop, with Israel emerging as the central fault line in the royal feud. In recent months, Dalindyebo has openly engaged with Israeli officials and institutions, arguing that cooperation in areas such as water security, healthcare, and agriculture could help address severe service-delivery challenges in the beleaguered Eastern Cape. 

The king travelled to Israel, where he met Israeli President Isaac Herzog and other government representatives and toured facilities specialising in water management and medical innovation. Following his visit, he worked with recently expelled Israeli Deputy Ambassador Ariel Seidman and the director of digital communications at the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, David Saranga, to explore potential initiatives in the province. These included discussions about hospital partnerships with Sheba Medical Center as well as projects linked to Innovation Africa, a non-profit organisation that installs solar-powered water systems in remote villages. 

Saranga later visited the Eastern Cape, and met hospital management at Mthatha General Hospital and Nelson Mandela Academic Hospital. He also attended a gathering of more than 50 traditional leaders convened by Dalindyebo, with water access and healthcare support central to discussions. 

The South African government subsequently gave Seidman 72 hours to get out of South Africa, declaring him persona non grata. 

While Dalindyebo has been finding practical solutions to problems in the Eastern Cape, Mandela has taken a markedly different position. 

The former African National Congress MP has become one of the country’s most vocal anti-Israel activists. At the recent launch of the Global Sumud Flotilla Mission 2026, Mandela declared that the initiative sought to “bring Israel to its knees”. 

Diplomatic sources in Israel told the SA Jewish Report, “Mandela attacked the king for accepting humanitarian aid from Israel after the floods in August. He has exerted sustained pressure on the king to reject Israeli humanitarian support. Denying disaster relief for political grandstanding comes at the expense of the very people he claims to represent. For a self-styled human rights activist, his silence after thousands were massacred in Iran was deafening.” 

Dalindyebo announced the dismissal while unveiling plans to contest the 2026 local government elections in alliance with the ATM. 

“This royal kingdom remains a friend of Israel and a friend of the Jewish community because when our people needed help the most, Israel was there for us, and instead of helping his people, Mandla ran off to help Palestinians,” the princess said. 

This isn’t the first confrontation between Dalindyebo and Mandela. In 2013, Mandela exhumed the remains of three of Nelson Mandela’s children from their graves in Qunu and reinterred them in Mvezo without broader family consent, triggering outrage within the Mandela family. King Dalindyebo opposed the move, and the Eastern Cape High Court in Mthatha ultimately ordered that the remains be returned to the family graveyard near Qunu. 

The dispute has also exposed internal divisions within the wider Mandela family over Israel and Gaza. Mandela’s cousins, Zamaswazi Dlamini-Mandela and Zaziwe Dlamini-Manaway, visited Israel and Gaza last year, saying they were open to seeing the situation for themselves and describing the experience to the SA Jewish Report as “eye-opening”, a stance that contrasted sharply with Mandla’s uncompromising rhetoric.