A South African appeals court has ruled that personal items associated with former president Nelson Mandela can be sold and exported, rejecting a bid by heritage authorities to block the auction, the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) said on Thursday, 22 January 2026.

According to Africanews, the court overturned an appeal by the South African Heritage Resources Agency (SAHRA), which had argued that the roughly 70 items were part of the nation’s heritage and should not be sold or taken out of the country. The SCA found that SAHRA had interpreted the National Heritage Resources Act too broadly and failed to show why each object legally qualified as a protected heritage item. 

The artefacts set to be auctioned in the United States by Guernsey’s Auction House include a cell key from Robben Island, where Mandela spent 18 years in prison, a pair of sunglasses, a floral shirt, a signed copy of South Africa’s 1996 Constitution, and a tennis racquet used by Mandela while imprisoned. Gifts from world leaders, identification documents and drawings are also among the items. 

Ownership of the collection is held by Dr Makaziwe Mandela, Mandela’s eldest daughter, and Christo Brand, a former Robben Island prison warder who became a close friend of Mandela. SAHRA, along with the Robben Island Museum and the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture, sought to prevent the sale, asserting that Mandela-related items automatically qualified as heritage objects, IOL reported.

Appeal court judges found that the agency did not provide sufficient evidence that each object met the legal definition of a heritage item under the law, and that its interpretation risked infringing constitutional property rights. The SCA ruling dismissed the appeal with costs, clearing the way for the auction to proceed. 

Makaziwe Mandela welcomed the decision, saying SAHRA had assumed it knew her father’s wishes better than his family. She said the family remains dedicated to preserving Mandela’s legacy but has not yet decided whether to go ahead with the sale. Proceeds from any eventual auction were initially envisaged to help fund a memorial garden near Mandela’s grave in Qunu, Eastern Cape. 

It is not yet clear whether the government or SAHRA will seek further legal action to challenge the SCA’s judgment, and officials from the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture have not responded publicly to the ruling.