|
Mandela 'acted out of character'
11/07/2005 22:43 - (SA)
Yvonne Beyers, Die Burger
Johannesburg - The Nelson Mandela who allegedly wanted to ask up to R10 000 for an autographed photograph and would have sold signed copies of his autobiography to a company "was contradictory to the character of the man he (his former lawyer, Ismail Ayob) had come to know and respect through the years".
In Ayob's sworn statement submitted to Johannesburg High Court, this confidant of many years of the former president said he told Mandela's office staff that the collection of these fees would lead to "negative publicity" for Mandela.
According to Ayob, the former president wanted payment to autograph "books, T-shirts, baseball caps, photographs, and so forth, which had been sent to him from time to time by members of the public".
However, he advised Mandela to rather send signed photos of himself to these people "to save time and money".
"He followed my advice for a little while. Then he started asking R500 a photo.
'Had earned R500 a copy for the signature'
"Shortly after this, this fee rose to R10 000 for an autographed photograph."
In his statement, Ayob claimed he came across "hundreds of copies of Long Walk to Freedom in Mandela's home and that Mandela "had autographed these books for a big company".
"His answer to me was that he had earned R500 a copy for the signature."
According to Ayob, Mandela started getting "highly suspicious" about his money matters in June last year because he was "anxious that he did not have control of his affairs".
Ayob apparently had to show photographs and visual material to Mandela to remind him that he had signed artworks, but sometimes, Mandela apparently denied, a couple of days later, that he had singed these artworks.
"For this reason, I decided that I could no longer act on his [Mandela's] behalf.
"During a meeting which was highly agonising to me, I explained to him that what had been demanded of me under the circumstances had strained our relationship."
During the meeting, he apparently suggested that Mandela should "consult a doctor independently without interference by any of his relatives".
Ayob claims the former president did, in fact, consciously sign his name and rights over to Tinancier Investment and Holdings.
Mandela Trust owns Tinancier
Ayob said this agreement was ratified by two subsequent documents.
Ayob said this was the case, despite the former president maintaining that he did not sign the agreement or was misled
by Ayob to do so.
According to Ayob, the Mandela Trust owns Tinancier, and the directors of this company are Mandela's daughters, Makaziwe and Zenani.
He claims he did not benefit from the Tinancier agreement and that he received only R364.28 an hour in legal fees.
"Everything I had ever done in terms of my relationship with (Mandela), I did to the benefit of (Mandela) and the benefit of (his) family."
- Die Burger
|
News
