RUST-TER-VAAL.- A bus full of mourners was torched by hurled petrol bombs outside the Rust-ter-Vaal cemetery on Saturday. This has been described as a ‘bizarre spectacle’ and ‘a moment of madness.’ The incident left an elderly woman hospitalised with serious burns to her feet and face. Scores of others sustained various injuries. This happened a few minutes after Gogo Mthimkulu was laid to rest and mourners were ready to leave the cemetery. Numerous cars were damaged by rocks as the two groups fought it out. According to reliable sources in the area, the heinous crime was carried out by a loud group of Rust-ter-Vaal residents who were opposed to the opening of the cemetery to the corpses of people from outside the area. Some believe that the situation was racially motivated.
A victim, Mxolisi Hadebe (27), said he injured his back as he tried to jump out the window of the burning bus.
Mxolisi, a member of the Atlehang Gospel Choir, said the funeral service was for the mother of their choir leader, Kamohelo Mthimkhulu. A petrol bomb was allegedly thrown into their bus and the local community also threw golf clubs at the bus. Motorists were provoked by this and retaliated by attacking the members of the community, who the ran towards their yards.
Windows, three houses and two vehicles parked inside yards were damaged by flying rocks. A local educator said the fight has nothing to do with race: “We are living in peace with people from various races here. Not long ago we requested the Emfuleni Local Municipality to stop outsiders from coming here to bury their dead as this area is too small and can only just accommodate us, to no vail.” De Deur station commander Colonel Gideon Mundalamo said one suspect from Rust-ter-Vaal was arrested, charged with possession of an unlicensed firearm, public violence and malicious damage to property.
Emfuleni MMC for Sports, Parks and Cemeteries, Shaka Radebe, said the government will never allow the segregation of the dead, which amounts to imposing a Group Areas Act as in apartheid: “This is a democratic country and every citizen has the right to be buried in a place of their choice.”
