Trespassing charges against five Mvezo villagers were withdrawn by the Bityi Magistrate’s Court after their chief, Mandla Zwelivelile Mandela (Nelson Mandela’s eldest grandson), failed to provide the court with the title deed to the disputed land.

A Daily Dispatch report says this comes after the state initially claimed it was in possession of the deed.

The deed did surface in court, but in the hands of one of the trespassing accused, Mtshutshisi Tyalakhulu, who showed the court he had every right to the portion of the land in the fenced-in Mvezo traditional council great place near Mthatha.

This was the land that Mandela – in an affidavit – and the state had accused Tyalakhulu of trespassing on.

Last week, the state withdrew the charges and the court released Mtshutshisi, his relatives Yanga and Bambatha Tyalakhulu, and Nomene and Velile Sobhuza.

The report says the collapse of Mandela’s claim to the land comes amid a decade-old dispute between the iconic family and some villagers.

East London attorney Pumelele Hole, of Enzo Meyer Attorneys – who represented the accused families – said when the trespassing matter appeared in court on 22 February, it had been placed on record on behalf of the accused that the complainant (Mandela) had no claim or title to the land in question and that ownership resided with one of the accused.

At that point, the prosecutor requested a postponement to access the title deed to the property concerned.

Earlier in April, a community member opened a case of perjury, alternatively fraud, against Mandela because he had submitted an affidavit to a court in the matter against the now-exonerated ‘trespassers’ stating he was unaware of a 2012 land dispute case, which is still before the Eastern Cape High Court (Mthatha).

The complainants alleged Mandela had filed a detailed affidavit in 2012 setting out his defence.

Full Daily Dispatch report (subscription needed)