Miriam Makeba's grandchildren fought her own trustees for her music, and the state paid their lawyers until the Public Protector ruled it unlawful

Miriam Makeba collapsed after a concert in Italy and died at 76. Her rights to more than 30 albums sat in the ZM Makeba Trust, run by trustees Graeme Gilfillan, a copyright lawyer, and Dumisani Motha, her former manager and agent. Her grandchildren, Nelson Lumumba Lee and Zenzile Lee, were beneficiaries. They fought the trustees for control. The Lees alleged Motha kept co-running the trust after resigning and that Gilfillan hid the resignation; these are allegations. The Lees went to the Master of the High Court and were made trustees themselves. In 2018 Gilfillan's company, Siyandisa Music, sought an interdict against Sun International and the Lees after the hotel group paid the Lees to use Makeba's image for its hall of fame. The court dismissed Siyandisa's application. The Lees said it gave them her rights. The trustees said it turned on a technical point about when rights moved from the trust to Siyandisa. The Department of Arts and Culture paid for the Lees' lawyers, including R912,000 agreed in December 2017. Gilfillan complained. On 28 February 2022 Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane found the department broke the Public Finance Management Act by funding litigation it was not party to. As of 2018 the estate was not wound up. Gilfillan died in 2023. No report that the estate has been wound up was found as of 2026.