Mandela Fades as South Africa Battles Over Legacy SABC, via Associated Press Nelson Mandela's family objected to images of President Jacob Zuma seated with him in April. JOHANNESBURG - "Smile!" the visitor implored, an edge of forced bonhomie in his voice, as he held up a cellphone camera to take a snapshot. But the face of Nelson Mandela, the 94-year-old leader of the struggle against apartheid who became South Africa's beloved first black president, remained impassive as stone. He looked confused and irritated, as if his rheumy eyes failed to register the faces of the top leaders of the African National Congress who came to see him last month, even though he had known them for decades. These images, captured by a government camera crew and broadcast nationwide, were the first to appear in more than nine months of the ailing Mr. Mandela, who has been in the hospital four times in less than a year. Far from being honored, Mr. Mandela's relatives were furious over the broadcast, saying party leaders had invaded his privacy and exploited his frailty to reap the political benefits of being seen in his hallowed company at least one more time. "I was really, really livid," said Makaziwe Mandela, Mr. Mandela's eldest daughter, arguing that the filming took place against the family's wishes. They should have had the sense to not publish those pictures. As Mr. Mandela fades away, the struggle to claim his legacy, his image, his moneymaking potential and even the time he has remaining has begun in earnest. The governing African National Congress, which Mr. Mandela led for decades, is accused of using him as a prop to remind voters of the party's noble roots at a time when it has come to be seen as a collection of corrupt, self-serving elites. The party's main rival, the Democratic Alliance, has come under fire, too, for using a photo of him embracing one of its white progenitors, spurring complaints that the opposition is trying to co-opt Mr. Mandela's image to unseat his own party. And all the while, his descendants are engaged in a very public fight over Mr. Mandela's financial legacy. Angry that a trust set up for their welfare and upkeep is partly controlled by someone they consider an outsider, his friend George Bizos, the family has gone to court to remove Mr. Bizos as a director. "Everyone wants a piece of the Madiba magic," said William Gumede, who has written extensively about Mr. Mandela, using the former president's clan name. This is just a preview of what will come when he goes. The phrase "when he goes" is the polite euphemism used by anyone who dares to hint at the inevitable death of Mr. Mandela, a revered figure across the globe. Speaking about the death of an elder is considered taboo in most of South Africa's rainbow of cultures. But Mr. Mandela's age and fragile health have led to the increasingly acrimonious war over how he will be remembered - and what he has to pass on. Last month, two of Mr. Mandela's daughters sued Mr. Bizos and two other associates of their father to force them off the boards of two companies set up to sell a series of paintings Mr. Mandela had made with his handprints, one of several commercial ventures devised to raise money for him and his heirs. The Mandela family includes a sometimes squabbling assembly of three daughters from two marriages, 17 grandchildren and 14 great-grandchildren. The suit asserts that Mr. Bizos and two other people were improperly appointed to the boards. Mr. Bizos, a prominent human rights lawyer, appears stung by the effort to oust him; he helped defend Mr. Mandela against charges of sabotage and conspiracy to overthrow the state 50 years ago and remained a close friend. The newspaper The Star quoted Mr. Bizos as saying that Mr. Mandela's daughters "wanted to get their hands on things that should not be sold and the money in the companies." In a statement, Mr. Mandela's grandchildren angrily rejected efforts to "paint our family as insensitive money grabbers with no respect," adding that "most of us are gainfully employed, work for our own companies and run our own projects." Makaziwe Mandela said in an interview that "this issue that we are greedy, that we are wanting this money before my dad passes away, is all nonsense."