Mabandla had six children and was married twice: first in a customary marriage to Luxolo Manentsa in 1991 and then to Phumzile Mabandla in 2000. Her mother and her elder children later disputed the legal validity of her second marriage, claiming that Mabandla had left Manentsa in a quarrel but had never ended her first marriage. They also claimed that Phumzile Mabandla had been unable to produce a marriage certificate when attempting to claim Mabandla's body from the hospital in Kokstad. Following a dispute and a court application by Mabandla's family, a court annulled Mabandla's second marriage in May 2013.
