Nelson Mandela’s grandson was charged with raping a 15-year-old girl inside a South African bar restroom, the NY Daily News reports.
Mbuso Mandela, 24, is being held in jail until a bail hearing on Friday.
The girl told police she met young Mandela while dining with friends at a popular Johannesburg restaurant.
After she excused herself to go the restroom, Mandela assaulted the girl inside the restroom, a family spokesman told the Daily Sun newspaper.
“He grabbed her and raped her inside one of the [toilet stalls],” the spokesman said.
The spokesman said the Mandela family tried to interfere with the police investigation into the rape.
Self-appointed Mandela family enforcer Winnie Madikizela-Mandela allegedly sent her bodyguard — disguised as a cop — to the victim’s home to intimidate the family into dropping the charges.
The bodyguard told the girl’s family that police would not arrest young Mandela.
When the girl’s father asked to see his badge, he couldn’t produce one. “It turned out he had been sent by Winnie,” the family spokesman said.
“Just because they have a famous surname, they think they can get away with crime,” the spokesman said. “Children can’t just be raped and then everything is alright.”
Mandela, who died in 2013, has 17 grandchildren.
Thanks to loyal reader Marcella B. for the tip.
