Nelson Mandela

South Africa urges halt to Nelson Mandela's Robben Island prison cell key auction

The sale is due in January in New York by Guernsey's auction house. The seller is Christo Brand, Mandela's former prison guard in the notorious jail.

But Nathi Mthethwa, South Africa's culture minister, said there had been no consultation with the government.

"This key belongs to the people of South Africa," he said.

"It is not anyone's personal belonging," the minister added.

Guernsey's says its planned auction on 28 January is to raise funds for a memorial garden and museum around Mandela's burial site.

VIDEO: Bail hearing after Mandela grandson charged

The 24-year-old is accused of raping the girl at a Johannesburg-area restaurant on August 7th.

Judge Pieter Du Plessis granted bail of 7,000 rand, nearly 540 US dollars.

In granting bail, the judge said there was a reasonable prospect that a trial could end in an acquittal.

Mandela's grandson accused of rape, granted bail

Judge Pieter Du Plessis granted bail of 7,000 rand, nearly $540, as the man showed little emotion sitting in the accused's dock. The 24-year-old is accused of raping the teenage girl at a Johannesburg-area restaurant on Aug. 7.

In granting bail, the judge said there was a reasonable prospect that a trial could end in an acquittal.

No bail for Nelson Mandela's grandson accused of raping 15-y-o girl

Mbuso Mandela's bail hearing was postponed to Tuesday to give his defense team more time to locate a witness who they say could testify that the incident was consensual, a judge ruled.

The judge in the Johannesburg magistrate's court also ordered the prosecution to produce the official identity document of the teenager accusing Mbuso Mandela of rape, in order to settle the defense's dispute that the girl is 16, the age of legal consent in South Africa.

Nelson Mandela's grandson appears in court on rape charges

Members of the Mandela family were in the cramped courtroom where Mbuso Mandela, 24, appeared. He has been in police custody since his arrest on Saturday.

According to South African law, due to the seriousness of the charge, his defense attorneys will have to present evidence to support his release on bail.

The rape allegedly took place in a toilet at a restaurant in Greenside, a Johannesburg suburb, on Aug. 7, police said.