Nelson Mandela's grandson reportedly locked out, declines comment

Johannesburg: Mandla Mandela, grandson of anti-apartheid icon Nelson Mandela, won't comment on a report that he was locked out of the family's homestead in the village of Qunu by relatives four days before his grandfather was buried there.

The Johannesburg tabloid The Times reported yesterday that locks at Nelson Mandela's home in the Eastern Cape hamlet were changed shortly after his eldest daughter, Makaziwe Mandela, arrived on Thursday.

At the time, Mandla Mandela was keeping vigil next to his grandfather's coffin while the anti-apartheid hero's body lay in state at the Union Buildings in Pretoria for three days. He escorted the coffin to Qunu on Saturday for Mandela's funeral the following day.