Court Dismisses Bid to Prevent Auction of Nelson Mandela Memorabilia

The anti-apartheid leader’s eldest daughter won the right to sell some of his personal items after a two-year legal battle.Shirts that had belonged to Nelson Mandela at an auction in New York City in 2021. Guernsey’s in New York scheduled a separate online auction in 2024 that received widespread criticism in South Africa. Credit...Carlo Allegri/ReutersJan. 23, 2026, 2:28 p.m. ETA South African court on Friday dismissed an appeal by the country’s heritage body to prevent the sale and export of memorabilia belonging to the anti-apartheid leader Nelson Mandela.The items are in the hands of Mr. Mandela’s eldest daughter, Makaziwe Mandela, and Christo Brand, a warden who worked at Robben Island while he was incarcerated there. The collection includes a Mandela coin from the U.S. Mint and gifts from former U.S. presidents, including a blanket from President Barack Obama, a champagne cooler from President Bill Clinton and a pen from President George W. Bush.His fist sculpted in bronze, his iconic aviator-style sunglasses, signature shirts and his green identity book are also among the items. Mr. Brand, who became friends with Mr. Mandela while at Robben Island, has a key found at the prison and a signed copy of the first post-apartheid South African Constitution.Guernsey’s in New York scheduled an online auction in 2024. It received widespread criticism in South Africa, and the government supported a court application by the South African Heritage Resources Agency, known as SAHRA, to appeal an earlier decision that had approved the sale.ImageItems formerly belonging to Nelson Mandela in 2021.Credit...Carlo Allegri/ReutersThe agency argued that the items were protected under the National Heritage Resources Act, a law designed to identify and manage places and objects of cultural significance. The issue was whether the items, as owned by Ms. Mandela and Mr. Brand, would be subject to the law. The Supreme Court of Appeal, with four of the five judges concurring, ruled that the state had failed to prove the items were protected under the heritage act.Ms. Mandela said she was relieved by the court’s decision but was “confounded by the motivation for launching this marathon legal battle in the first place.”“It is arrogant of an entity such as SAHRA to presume to know my father’s last wishes better than those who were beside him at the end, his family,” she said.The proceeds from the auction are intended to finance a memorial garden where Mr. Mandela is buried, she said. The garden will be a “pilgrimage destination” to remind the world of her father’s legacy.Mr. Mandela dedicated most of his life to emancipating South Africa from white minority rule. He died in 2013 at 95, 23 years after his release from prison and 19 years after he was elected South Africa’s first president. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993.SKIP Site IndexNewsHome PageU.S.WorldPoliticsNew YorkEducationSportsBusinessTechScienceWeatherThe Great ReadObituariesHeadwayVisual InvestigationsThe MagazineArtsBook ReviewBest Sellers Book ListDanceMoviesMusicPop CultureTelevisionTheaterVisual ArtsLifestyleHealthWellFoodRestaurant ReviewsLoveTravelStyleFashionReal EstateT MagazineOpinionToday's OpinionColumnistsEditorialsGuest EssaysOp-DocsLettersSunday OpinionOpinion VideoOpinion AudioMoreAudioGamesCookingWirecutterThe AthleticJobsVideoGraphicsTrendingLive EventsCorrectionsReader CenterTimesMachineThe Learning NetworkSchool of The NYTinEducationAccountSubscribeManage My AccountHome DeliveryGift SubscriptionsGroup SubscriptionsGift ArticlesEmail NewslettersNYT LicensingReplica EditionTimes Store