Nelson Mandela's former wife has taken a swipe at his widow Graca Machel, as she continues her fight to acquire the late statesman's rural house in Qunu.

In an interview published Tuesday, Winnie Madikizela-Mandela questioned why the property was left to Mozambican-born Machel, whom she said already owns "the world in Mozambique".

Winnie in October launched a legal challenge against Mandela's will claiming that the house, built on an expansive estate where the revered South African leader is buried, was acquired by her in 1989.

Mandela was still in prison at the time.

"I let him live on my property," the 78-year-old Madikizela-Mandela told the Daily Dispatch newspaper.

She said she was not going to evict the anti-apartheid icon "simply because he was married to a third wife".

"It is such a pity he is no longer there for me to ask just what on earth would have brought him to elect that he would take my land and give it away to someone who actually has a whole world in Mozambique, because she's got her four houses in Mozambique."

Madikizela-Mandela went a court to nullify the registration of the property in Mandela's name. The case is yet to be heard.

The couple divorced in 1996 and she was not named in his $4.4 million (3.4 million euro) estate in Mandela's will which was released in February after his death in December 2013.

Mandela bequeathed the home to his family trust on behalf of Machel, her children and the Mandela family.

Madikizela-Mandela however told the paper that she bore no grudges against Machel, and that her divorce from Mandela was a "blessing in disguise".

The two women shared grief after Mandela died and were often seen seated next to each other, wearing black.