Weekend Argus (Saturday Edition)
Agony for family as vandals desecrate grave of father
IMAGINE having to bury a family member not just once, but twice – all because criminals had violated their grave.
That’s the situation a Khayelitsha family now face after their father’s grave was vandalised at the Harare Cemetery.
Nhonho Mkhululi Mtakatya told Weekend Argus the family were visited by City officials on Monday and told that their father’s grave had been found open.
“My father’s grave and another person’s were open. We found my father’s hat that he was buried with and pieces of the coffin outside the grave,” said Mtakatya.
William Stewuthi Wuece was buried in October, 2015, and his grave was identified by the plot number.
The family has laid a charge of “grave violation” at the Harare police station and with the security company which guards the cemetery.
“We do not even know if the remains in my father’s grave really are his,” said Mtakatya.
City officials exhumed the remains for DNA testing yesterday, and promised the family the remains would be re-buried on the same day.
However, the family say there are cultural rituals that had to be adhered to.
“He is not a dog. Culturally, we cannot just allow the City officials to bury my father’s remains like that. We have to bury my father again like we did the first time,” added Mtakatya.
The family paid R20 000 for their father’s coffin in 2015 but back then had a funeral policy which covered the costs of the burial. This time around, the costs of the reburial will be out of the family’s own pockets – something they simply can’t afford.
Mtakatya added that he had heard rumours in the community about grave violations, but could not offer an explanation as to why this was being done.
Mayco member for for safety and security JP Smith said: “It’s unimaginable why somebody would do this. We hope that SAPS will urgently investigate this crime and that the perpetrators will be brought to justice.”