The Nelson Mandela Foundation has hit back at Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe, saying that he should base his comments on facts when interrogating the South African icon's legacy, reports say.

According to Eye Witness News, the foundation said that Mugabe's critique of South Africa's negotiated settlement were "hollow".

Mugabe made headlines recently when he attacked Mandela's legacy, saying that the South African icon cherished his personal freedom over the economic freedom of his people, which was the reason why today in South Africa "everything is in the whites' hands".

The 93-year-old president said this while speaking in Shona at a ruling party rally in the central town of Gweru.

"What was the most important thing for (Mandela) was his release from prison and nothing else. He cherished that freedom more than anything else and forgot why he was put in jail," Mugabe was quoted as saying, in comments translated by NewZimbabwe.com.

But an eNCA report quoted the Nelson Mandela Foundation as saying:  "The foundation encourages President Mugabe and anyone who wants to interrogate Madiba's legacy and question his contribution to the birth of the new South Africa to do so, but to accurately examine relevant evidence and facts.

"The foundation remains an institution anyone can visit to interact and engage on the life and times of Nelson Mandela."

The foundation also said that the collective leadership of the ANC was behind all decisions made during the negotiation period.