By Marie-Louise Gumuchian
(CNN) — Former South African President Nelson Mandela left his $4.1 million estate to family members, former staff, schools and the ruling African National Congress, according to a reading of his will Monday.
At a news conference where he summarized parts of the revered statesman’s will, Deputy Constitutional Court head Dikgang Moseneke said the estate was provisionally valued at 46 million rand ($4.1 million), excluding royalties. It had been read to Mandela family members earlier in the day.
Moseneke told reporters that Mandela’s third wife, Graca Machel, may waive her claims to the estate
A statement about the will was published on the Nelson Mandela Foundation website.
Asked what the mood was among Mandela family members at the reading of the will, Moseneke said: “Reading wills are always occasions charged with emotion.”
He added that the mood had been good, with relatives seeking clarifications from time to time, and virtually the entire family was present, he said, according to the statement.
Schools, staff remembered
Mandela, who died in December at the age of 95, left behind an estate that includes a house in Johannesburg, a dwelling in his rural Eastern Cape home province and royalties from book sales.
Moseneke said some of the estate would be split among trusts set up by Mandela, including a family trust designed to provide for his more than 30 children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
The home in Houghton, Johannesburg, where Mandela died, will be used by the family of his deceased son Makgatho.
“It is my wish that it should also serve as a place of gathering of the Mandela family in order to maintain its unity long after my death,” Mandela wrote.
Close personal staff each get around $4,500, and the schools and educational institutions the anti-apartheid hero attended are due to receive more than $8,900 each. Mandela also left equivalent amounts for grants and scholarships at other schools.
The African National Congress will also receive some royalties, to be used at the discretion of the party’s executive committee to spread information about the principles and policies of the party, particularly about reconciliation.
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