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Legalbrief   |   your legal news hub Friday 05 June 2026

Mandela reaches settlement with former lawyer

A settlement was reached in the Johannesburg High Court yesterday between lawyers for Nelson Mandela and Ismail Ayob, his former attorney, says SABC News.

In terms of the agreement, Ayob will pay back just under R800 000 in respect of disbursement from the Nelson Mandela Trust. Lawyers for Mandela were demanding Ayob pay back more than R2. 2m that was missing from the Trust, established to benefit Mandela’s children and grandchildren. George Bizos, Mandela\'s lawyer, said they recorded an apology by Ayob to Mandela for any defamatory statements that were made in the papers. Ayob had claimed in his affidavit that Mandela refused to pay taxes and that he approved several dodgy payments made by the Trust. Ayob was removed from the Trust in 2005 after a court battle over the unauthorised sale of Mandela artworks. In an affidavit, Wim Trengove, also Mandela’s lawyer, claimed that Ayob made ‘disbursements of more than R1.2m and distribution of R700 000 from the trust\'s bank account’ without consulting the other trustees. Full SABC News report