Madoda Mtshweni is furious after the mining giant, Seriti Mine, allegedly exhumed his grandfather’s grave without the family’s permission.
Gelboy Mtshweni’s grave was one of approximately 25 that were exhumed and relocated from an old family burial site at Wolvenfontein Farm near Middelburg three years ago.
Since then, his remains have been kept in a mortuary while the war of bringing back his remains continued between his family and the mining firm’s management.
“It is still not clear when we are going to bury him, because the mine is no longer communicating with us. These people exhumed an 80-year-old grave that was regarded as sacred to the family,” said Mtshweni.
He said the exhumation took place even though they agreed with the mine’s management that they must not touch the grave in question. Mtshweni said the family had received a call that the exhumation started, and when they rushed to the cemetery, they found that the grave had been removed.
“We permitted them to remove other graves, but they disrespected us and removed the wrong grave. When we confronted the management of the mining company, they told us the grave was not that of our grandfather’s, instead, it belonged to a female whose family agreed that it must be removed.
“When we asked them to give us details of the family, they failed to do so. The remains were taken to Wits University for tests to check if the remains belong to a man or woman, and it transpired that the person was a man, which shows that we were correct. The Department of Mineral Resources and Energy intervened and suggested the mining company must return the remains to the family for a proper burial, but the mining company refused to release the remains, saying they want to conduct further investigation,” said the irate Mtshweni.
He claimed that the mine stopped updating the family early this year. According to him, since the grave was violated, the family has suffered from ancestral backlash.
Another family member, Tax Mtshweni, said the family was ready to conduct a proper burial as soon as they received the remains.
Solly Masilela, a spokesperson for the Mpumalanga-based Vulamehlo Kusile Foundation, a non-profit organisation that fights for the rights of residents abused by mining companies, said they were currently seeking legal advice on how to assist the affected families.
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“Even though this matter is being attended to by the authorities, the mine exhumed the remains of Mr Fandi Masilela from the same grave site where they exhumed Mr Mtshweni. Mr Masilela was also buried more than 60 years ago.”
When contacted for comment, Seriti Mine’s spokesperson, Hulisani Rasivhaga, said, “Seriti is aware of the allegations and we wish to state for the record that they are false. We do not engage in activities that deliberately impact the rights of our communities and we always ensure that we engage with the affected parties for consent before the exhuming begins.
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“The grave in question was pointed out by an interested and affected party who confirmed through a duly signed affidavit that it contained the remains of a deceased relative of theirs. It was at the back of this that Seriti appointed a service provider to proceed with the relevant exhumation. However, Seriti immediately ceased the exhumation process when the Mtshweni family member notified us that there could have been a case of mistaken identification of the grave. The remains were then moved to a human remains storage facility for further investigation.”
