The South African Government has approached the country’s Constitutional Court in a fresh attempt to prevent an American auction house from selling 29 personal items associated with the late President Nelson Mandela.
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The South African Heritage Resources Agency, the Robben Island Museum and the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture asked the apex court on Tuesday to declare the proposed sale and export of the objects unlawful.
They argued that the disputed objects constitute protected heritage items under South Africa’s National Heritage Resources Act and cannot lawfully be exported without official permission.
The case concerns items listed for sale by New York-based Guernsey’s auction house with the approval of Mandela’s eldest daughter, Dr Makaziwe Mandela.
The disputed objects include Mandela’s identity document, some of his iconic Madiba shirts, clothing, writings and a key associated with the Robben Island prison cell where he spent 18 of his 27 years in detention.
Other items connected with the proposed auction include sunglasses, a hearing aid, a signed copy of South Africa’s 1996 Constitution, a tennis racket used in prison, drawings and gifts from world leaders, including former United States Presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton.
SAHRA argued before the Constitutional Court that the 29 objects “are deemed to be heritage objects” and that their export without permission would be unlawful.
The latest proceedings represent another stage in a legal dispute that began after Guernsey’s first advertised the auction in 2021.
SAHRA intervened in 2022 to stop the sale and reclaim regulatory control over some of the objects. After a South African court subsequently permitted the auction, it was advertised again in 2024 but suspended as the government continued its legal challenge.
In January 2026, the Supreme Court of Appeal dismissed the challenge in a majority decision, holding that SAHRA had failed to establish, item by item, why the objects legally qualified as protected heritage resources.
The appellate court held that SAHRA’s interpretation of the law was excessively broad and could result in virtually anything associated with Mandela being automatically classified as a heritage object.
It also recognised the constitutional protection against arbitrary deprivation of property enjoyed by Makaziwe Mandela and Mandela’s former Robben Island prison warder, Christo Brand, who owns some of the disputed objects.
The court, however, did not conclusively determine the broader question of whether personal objects closely connected with the creation of South Africa’s democracy ought to receive heritage protection.
The government and heritage authorities have now taken that dispute to the Constitutional Court, contending that the items form part of South Africa’s collective history and should remain within the country.
Makaziwe authorised the auction to raise funds for the construction of a memorial garden beside her father’s grave in Qunu village in South Africa’s Eastern Cape province.
She previously argued that Mandela’s family remained committed to protecting his legacy and should be allowed to decide how privately owned belongings connected with him were used.
Some members of the Mandela family have, however, reportedly opposed the proposed auction, maintaining that the objects form part of South Africa’s shared national history.
The late anti-apartheid leader was imprisoned for 27 years, including 18 years on Robben Island, before his release in 1990.
Mandela and F.W. de Klerk jointly received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993 for their efforts to end apartheid and establish democratic government in South Africa.
Mandela was elected South Africa’s first democratically elected president in May 1994 and served until June 1999. He died in December 2013 at the age of 95.
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