Johannesburg – Makaziwe Mandela has come out in support of her lawyer who earlier said that Nelson Mandela was in a “permanent vegetative state” and has even offered to take the stand in his defence at a disciplinary hearing.

According to the Sunday Times, this information has emerged in submissions by Wesley Hayes, who has a complaint lodged against him with the Cape Law Society, for alleged misconduct and misleading the High Court in Mthatha, Eastern Cape.

Mandela’s grandson, Mandla Mandela, lodged the complaint following a bitter legal battle with his aunt and other family members over the burial site of Mandela’s three deceased children. A court ruled against Mandla recently and he was forced to exhume and rebury the remains in Qunu.

Hayes implied that Mandla harbours a grudge against him after he represented and won all 11 cases brought against the ANC MP by his extended family.