Mandelas at war as reality shows, T-shirts and feuds over cash trash Nelson’s legacy

the opening episode of South Africa’s newest reality show  has two wealthy teenagers bickering about boys and bantering with a shop  assistant.

Only when the girls pay a visit to Robben Island – the  remote jail that once held prisoner 46664, Nelson Mandela – does it become clear  this is not quite Keeping up with the Kardashians.

The show is Being Mandela – and the stars are Swati Dlamini  and Zaziwe Dlamini-Manaway, two of the anti-apartheid hero’s 17  grandchildren.

But as a frail 94-year-old Mandela recovers from an acute  lung infection, the soap opera really gripping South Africa is the unseemly  scramble by his extended family to cash in on his name.

Mandela is second only to Coca-Cola as a global brand.

And the battle for the rights to exploit it has turned  Mandela against Mandela and his grandchildren against some of his oldest, most  trusted advisers.

Even as he receives medical care at his Johannesburg home,  a string of undignified money-making ventures bear the Mandela name.

The Being Mandela reality show has horrified South Africans  as demeaning the beloved statesman.

Swati and Zaziwe are daughters of Zenani Mandela, whose  parents are Winnie Mandela and the former South African President.

They have an incongruous LWTF – Long Walk To Freedom –  fashion line, selling T-shirts with Mandela’s image.

There is also a wine label – House of Mandela – featuring a  wine named “Madiba”, Mandela’s affectionate clan name, set up by his only  surviving daughter from his first marriage, Makaziwe, also known as Maki.

And there is to be a Happy Birthday Nelson Mandela boxing  match in a casino in Monaco organised by first family grandsons Ndaba and  Kweku.

Meanwhile, there are rumours – fiercely denied – that one  of Mandela’s grandchildren has already sold the rights to his grandfather’s  funeral to South African Television.

Then, earlier this month – within hours of their frail  father leaving hospital – two of the former President’s daughters began a court  case aimed at gaining control of the Mandela millions.

“The open bickering in the Mandela family is shameful,  given the frailty of the former President,” says a recent editorial in South  Africa’s Sunday Times entitled, “Greedy hands in the Mandela cookie jar”.

“It is downright embarrassing to witness how a man to whom  this country owes an untold debt and who is known as the father of our nation is  being torn apart by those closest to him,” it states.

Mandela has been married three times and has six children  and 17 grandchildren.

Until this month, there has been deep rivalry between the  offspring of his first two wives – Evelyn Mase who he divorced in 1958 and who  died in 2004, and Winnie Madikizela Mandela who he divorced in 1996, six years  after leaving prison.

Both sides have accused the other of exploiting the family  name.

This new court case has seen the two sides joined together  for the first time with a common cause – to bring a lawsuit against several of  the former president’s business associates, including renowned human rights  lawyer George Bizos and fellow Robben Island inmate and current cabinet minister  Tokyo Sexwale.

One of his grandchildren, Tukwini, has gone so far as to  personally attack 84-year-old Bizos, who famously defended Mandela against the  death penalty in 1964.

In an open letter she accused him of “blatant lies” and  claimed her grandfather’s trial, “catapulted you to undeserved stardom”.

Tukwini’s mother Makaziwe – from Mandela’s first marriage  to Evelyn – and Zenani – from his second marriage to Winnie – are trying to get  at a reported £1.1million from two companies that support the families.

The funds mainly come through the sale of images of  Mandela’s handprint.

Bizos, who is a long-time friend of Mandela and currently  defending victims of last year’s Marikana mining massacre – says Makaziwe was  recently refused access to the family trust.

“This woman wanted to take over the money and distribute it  to members of the family,” he said.

“That is contrary to the provisions of the trust. Therefore  we refused.” Mandela’s lawyer Norton Rose adds: “our clients record their dismay  at the insensitivity of the applicants” in bringing the case “at this time” –  while their father was only just recovering from a period in intensive care.

Friends point out he has already set up trusts for all his  close family for after his death.

Mandela’s extraordinary dignity has always been central to  his status as global icon, international statesman and South African hero.

In 2007, he was so determined to call time on the cult of  Mandela he insisted his image was removed from all ­charitable merchandise –  hence the use of his ­handprint and prison paintings.

No wonder South Africans are watching Being Mandela from  behind their hands.

South African comedian Daniel Friedman tweeted: “It should  be a series. Gandhi’s grandkids go shopping. The Dalai Lama’s grandkids have  dinner.”

Pre-show publicity included interviews where the  granddaughters cringingly claimed Mandela likes watching US child beauty pageant  show Toddlers and Tiaras – as evidence that he would love their venture into  reality television.

Mandela’s biographer David James Smith says he feels some  sympathy for Mandela’s children, who have struggled to live in his shadow and  grew up neglected and, at times, afraid.

“Mandela was so busy being father to a nation he had little  time to be a father to his own children,” he says.

“Now they feel they are owed something. They are trying to  provide for their families and struggle to live with this huge name.”

He points out that two grandsons from Mandela’s first  marriage Ndaba and his cousin Kweku – who have set up Africa Rising Foundation –  are at least attempting to do something charitable with their famous  surname.

Yet there are deep fears that when Mandela eventually makes  his final long walk home, his family will become engulfed by bitterness and  greed.

“When I was in South Africa recently, his granddaughter  described Mandela as the glue that binds the family together,” Smith says.

“There’s an increasing fractiousness, with the two families  feeling they are entitled to the Mandela name.”

It is not just the Mandela family but the nation whose  freedom he gave his life to that now faces losing that unifying glue.

As South Africa stands poised on the brink of being without  Mandela, the unseemly fight among his children is a metaphor for the future of  his country. South Africa has not felt as unstable – or divided – since the  apartheid era.

An authoritative documentary this week by South  African-born Labour politician Peter Hain showed how the Marakana miners’  massacre is just one symptom of a country described by a key ANC figure as “in  deep crisis”.

The achievements of modern South Africa are not Mandela’s  alone.

But without his unifying strength, without his decency,  humility and forgiveness – and his power as an icon, it is in danger of becoming  just another African country riven by post-colonial poverty and corruption.

Without Mandela, the glue that has held the country  together, South Africa must find new unity – even as the former first family  tears itself apart.