Mandla takes stand in assault trial

MANDLA Mandela yesterday told the court his grandfather, Nelson Mandela, taught him to negotiate differences peacefully.

However, in the same breath, he admitted slapping Mthatha teacher Mlamli Ngudle for bumping into a white BMW X5 belonging to a businessman Mandela was hosting.

As an MP and traditional leader, Mandela told the court he had a responsibility to keep peace and restore order in Mthatha, especially as the area was his constituency.

“I come from a humble home, the Mandela royal family. “My grandfather taught me to always be exemplary and negotiate difficult situations.

My grandfather taught me to always be a role model and his teachings I hold in high regard. It is in that spirit that I went to reason with Mr Ngudle.

I felt we could work out our differences,” he said. Mandela took the stand after Magistrate Noluthando Conjwa ruled that the state had a prima facie case against him at the Mthatha Regional Court yesterday.

He faces assault charges after allegedly kicking Ngudle, stomping on him and pistol-whipping him. Under cross-examination by senior state prosecutor Jongikhaya Busakwe yesterday, Mandela flatly denied the pistol-whipping and stomping.

“By taking his car keys, hitting him and demanding his licence, you took the law into your own hands. “Can you say a person who hits a heavily drunk person is highly principled,” asked Busakwe.

Mandela, who told the court he was six feet tall and wore a size 12 shoe, responded: “I’m a boxer, just like my grandfather.” Busakwe retorted: “The only thing boxers do is hit, correct?” “They also defend themselves,” Mandela replied.

Mandela said he noticed that Ngudle’s speech was slurred, his eyes “blood red”, he reeked of alcohol and there were empty beer dumpies lying on the floor of Ngudle’s bakkie.

“I am six feet tall, I can see inside a standing car,” he said. He denied losing his temper after being allegedly sworn at by Ngudle but said he was acting in self-defence as Ngudle was about to hit him with his fist. “

I never lose my temper … As an MP and traditional leader, we always work under pressure. It is Mr Ngudle who lost his temper. “I was not angry, but very embarrassed,” said Mandela.

Ngudle had become rude, arrogant and embarrassing after Mandela approached him to sort out the damage. “He called me a boy, kwedini. He also called me a dog . And he insulted my mother’s private parts,” said a relaxed Mandela.

As he repeated Ngudle’s alleged insult in Xhosa, his mother, Nolusapho, looked down at the courtroom floor and took a short break outside.

Across the gallery his accuser, Ngudle, sat next to his wife with their hands occasionally clutched together or covering their faces as if in disbelief at the testimony.

Ngudle has previously denied that he wanted to sue Mandela for “millions”. But Mandela said Ngudle’s lawyers had demanded he deposit R500000 into their client’s account soon after the incident.

“They said because I was from the Mandela family I could pay millions. That’s when I walked away because I realised they had no intentions to reach consensus,” he said. The matter was postponed to today.