Feud over remains settled
Parents have burial rights of woman and her two children who were murdered
EMOTIONAL scenes played out on the steps of the Western Cape High Court shortly after a judge ordered that the remains of murdered Pumla Mvinjelwa Ntombela, 31, and her two murdered children be released to her family immediately.
The ruling by Judge Nobahle Mangcu-Lockwood yesterday has ended a month-long battle between the Mvinjelwa and Ntombela families on who had the right to bury Pumla and her daughters.
The Mvinjelwas brought an urgent application to have their daughter and two grandchildren buried in the Eastern Cape, while the Ntombelas argued they were entitled to the burial rights.
The court heard their bodies had not yet been identified by the Mvinjelwas since the tragic event that happened on September26 at their family home in Bardale Village, Mfuleni.
Pumla, along with her two daughters, Nahlanhla and Bajabulile, was shot and killed by her husband Simthembile, who left a suicide note before turning the gun on himself.
The legal team from the firm Sharuh Attorneys, representing the Mvinjelwa family, argued that there was no customary marriage between the two because Simthembile didn’t pay his full portion of the lobola.
“There are no descendants from Pumla as both her children died with her.
“One of the principles of fairness is blood relation.
“In this matter we have the parents of Pumla as her blood relatives, and they should therefore have the right to bury their daughter and grandchildren.”
Anda Njeza, representing the Ntombela family, argued the Ntombela family carried out Imbeleko, a ceremony of detaching the umbilical connection from the mother and introducing the child to the ancestors, and the fact that Pumla accepted her husband’s surname and was assimilated by the family gave them the right to bury her and the children.
However, Mangchu-Lockwood pointed out to Njeza that the application filed by his client was not from the bloodline, but Pumla’s sister-inlaw.
“Before me I have two parents of the deceased. Why must I go further with the matter?
“I’m ordering that the MEC of Health help the Mvinjelwa family to identify the bodies of Pumla and her two children and release their remains,” Mangchu-Lockwood said.