South Africa Takes Mandela Memorabilia Auction Fight to Constitutional Court

South Africa’s heritage agency, Robben Island Museum and the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture asked the Constitutional Court to stop the sale and export of 29 objects associated with Nelson Mandela. The disputed collection includes his identity document, shirts, writings, hearing aid, gifts, a broken Robben Island key and a signed copy of the 1996 Constitution. Makaziwe Mandela and Guernsey’s auction house planned a New York sale whose proceeds were intended for a memorial garden near Mandela’s grave in Qunu. The court heard the case after the Supreme Court of Appeal dismissed the challenge in January; no ruling has been announced.