A recent clean-up operation took a surprising turn on August 8 when eight graves were discovered in a veld in Ruimsig.
According to Willowbrook, Ruimsig, Amorosa, and Poortview (WRAP) Residents Association (RA) chairperson Martin van der Westhuizen, teams from the Toolbox Hub were busy cleaning and clearing land on ADvTECH’s IIE MSA West Rand campus when they stumbled upon what appears to be a makeshift graveyard containing eight old graves.
“We’ve been working with IIE MSA for some months now to help them clear the tract of land between the university and Magnum Road,” he says, adding that the clean-up operation is part of an ongoing project between the RA and the university to clear the open area for the safety of the local community and surrounding neighbourhoods.
“We’ve employed the Toolbox team to do the clearing of invasive species and cleaning. I received a frantic call and rushed to the site. Upon arriving, I was shown some graves that were discovered in the veld, under and around a small outcrop of trees.”
Van der Westhuizen immediately notified university management as well as the Honeydew police, who arrived promptly.
“We inspected the gravesite and it was determined that these are old graves, though it is impossible to say how old.”
According to the head of the campus for IIE MSA Andre Lubbe, the graves were discovered while it was being cleared to help prevent wildfires and for security purposes.
Lubbe says that the university is being careful to follow the correct legal processes in terms of reporting and registering the graves.
“We are in the process of appointing an environmental attorney to assist us with the legalities and processes related to the discovery of the graves. The graves will also need to be registered with the South African Heritage Resource Agency in compliance with the framework.”
Lubbe adds that he would rather not speculate as to the era that the graves date back to.
“It would be difficult to speculate at this early stage. We will only be able to provide further clarity once our investigations are concluded.”
