Eskom has agreed to pay for a monument and traditional ceremonies for families whose 79 relatives’ bodies were exhumed during the construction of a transmission substation five years ago.
The embattled power utility has pledged R3,5m to cover the cleansing and reburial ceremonies, which according to the families, include 79 goats and 79 cows as part of an agreement reached with residents of a Limpopo village in January.
The villagers laid a claim for the remains of their loved ones which were exhumed in an old graveyard to pave way for the substation near De Hoop Dam in Steelpoort. The substation is still incomplete. Eskom owns the land.
On Sunday, a reburial and performance of rituals were conducted to signify a re-interring of the human remains at Manogeng in the Elias Motsoaledi local municipality.
The bodies were believed to have been buried in the area in the 1900s, according to a heritage assessment report. The exhumation happened before negotiations between Eskom and families were concluded.
Their exhumation has been a source of conflict between Eskom and relatives for five years, culminating in a mediated process by the commission for the promotion and protection of the rights of cultural and religious and linguistic communities CRL Rights Commission.
Claimants of the remains are the Mokobane, Makua, Rampedi Chego, Makua, Madihlaba, Manwammogo and Matjomane clans demanded that Eskom, among others, pays for: cleansing ceremony attended by 1,000 people including 30 members from each family; provide clay pots, lights, tents, sound and catering, build a monument with inside decorations made by the ancestral tools found at the old gravesite, after two months of reburial, there must be thanksgiving ceremony which includes the unveiling and will require 79 goats.
The claimants also initially demanded the construction of a tarred road, education bursaries to their families, first preference for employment at Eskom, small business and farming opportunities, compensation and statue of their chief.
Maria Makunyane from the Makua family told Sowetan that she attended the reburial on Sunday and was happy that the proceeding went well.
“Our forebears are now resting in peace after spending years stored in a ship container. Eskom promised us to rebury the remains and that has been done. I’m not complaining,” she said.
One of the claimants, who also attended the reburial and wished to remain anonymous because he is not authorised to speak to the media, said the cleansing ceremony was held two weeks ago in preparation for the reburial.
“The reburial took place at midnight on Sunday and was attended by the young and old from the respective families. No outsider or the media was allowed at the re-burial because we wanted to do our business in peace,” he said.
Another claimant said the balance from the R3.5m will be shared among the families.
“We don’t know how much is left but we will find out on Friday as we are going to meet and subsequently elect committee members to formalise our structure. “We agreed that since we don’t want money as reparations from Eskom for violating our graves, Eskom should built the community of ward 30 a tarred road,” he said.
However, John Mokobane of the Batlokwa Ba Mokobane is not happy with the reburial and even went to court to have it interdicted on Friday last week. He told the Limpopo High Court that the reburial could not go ahead without a DNA test done on the remains.
Their case was struck off the roll due to lack of urgency.
Mokobane said they believe the judge erred in his ruling.
“Those are our forebears’ remains and they can’t be buried like animals. There is no where in the world where you could find so many remains and you don’t want the world to know or worse refuse to conduct DNA test,” he said.
Mokobane said he will continue to fight in court.
“I want them to exhume all the remains and conduct DNA test because none of the people who attended the reburial know all those remains,” he said.
In a letter dated February 22, Dr Ngqabutho Madida, a manager at the South African Heritage Resources Agency (SAHRA), said Eskom had accidentally uncovered human remains and stored them before consultations with the claimant families could be finalised.
“It is also noted that following a multi-stakeholder commission led by CRL, Eskom, through their appointed service provider Thero Services, the stakeholders have now reached an agreement allowing for the reburial of the uncovered human remains. SAHRA has no objection to the reburial as agreed by the next-of-kin(s),” wrote Madida.
Eskom did not respond to questions sent to them on Monday.
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.