‘Seriti mine dug up our graves’
Families of the dead said they did not agree to the exhumations and now want the remains returned so that they can be reburied
Irate Mpumalanga families have accused the Seriti mine of exhuming the graves of their relatives without their permission, in contravention of the National Heritage Resources Act. About three years ago, the mine, co-owned by the Masimong Group, Thebe Investments Corporation, Zungu Investments and Community Investment Holdings, asked the families of the deceased, who were buried on Wolvenfontein farm near Middelburg, for permission to exhume the graves to make way for mining activities.
Although some families agreed, others refused. But the company allegedly started exhumations, including the graves of families that had denied it permission.
Tjhada Masilela said his grandfather was exhumed without the permission of the family.
“At the beginning of the [Covid-19] lockdown, we received a phone call that people were exhuming the grave. When we went there we found that it was true. The 60-yearold remains are kept at the morgue, while we are still trying to get them back for reburial,” Masilela said.
“The family is still shocked about what happened. We are working with the [Vulamehlo Kusile] Foundation to see how we can sue the mine for illegally vandalising my grandfather’s grave.”
Madoda Mtshweni also approached Vulamehlo Kusile Foundation, an organisation that assists people with grievances against mining companies, for assistance after his grandfather was allegedly exhumed without permission.
He said the mine officials and undertakers were told not to touch some of the graves. “We did not permit them to vandalise my grandfather’s grave. The grave was sacred to us and now the family is suffering from ancestral backlash.”
Mtshweni said the mine’s management refused to give the family the remains for reburial, on the grounds that they wanted to conduct further tests to prove that the remains were those of his grandfather. The remains are kept at the mortuary.
“We are working on trying to force them to release the remains so that we can give him a proper burial,” said Mtshweni. “The mine is no longer communicating with us.”
Another family member, Tax Mtshweni, said, “I see all the drama that is happening but what I need is the body remains of my grandfather so that we can conduct a proper burial. After burying him then we will meet other affected family members to seek an explanation on why the mine buried skeletons of other family members in a single grave.”
This is not the first time mining companies are accused of violating the rights of families when it comes to graves being removed and other relocation related problems.
A recent audit report released by the Mining Affected Communities United in Action and the Women Affected by Mining United in Action
found that mining-affected communities in Limpopo, North West, Gauteng and the Free State were not happy with the way authorities, including the department of mineral resources and energy, failed to hold mining companies accountable for not delivering on what they promised the communities.
The Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act of 2002 compels mining companies to play a part in the development of workers and communities in the area they operate in.
In Nkomazi, Mpumalanga, several families accused the Nkomati Nickel Mine, owned by African Rainbow Minerals and mining magnate
Patrice Motsepe, of exhuming relatives’ graves and failed to compensate them adequately, while Anglo American Platinum has been dragged to court for not compensating families who were relocated to make way for Mogalakwena Mine in Mokopane, Limpopo. In another case, which was heard in the Polokwane high court, Sekhukhune residents accused mining companies of failing to develop the area in which they operate.
According to the National Heritage Resources Act (1999), no person may, without a permit from the South African Heritage Resources Agency or its provincial office, destroy, damage, alter, exhume, remove from its
original position or otherwise disturb any grave or burial ground older than 60 years situated outside a formal cemetery administered by the local authority.
Seriti mine has also been accused of intimidating Solly Masilela, a senior researcher and the founder of the Vulamehlo Kusile Foundation. A few days ago he received a letter from the mine’s management informing him that he must stop interrupting the exhumation of the grave.
In the letter, the mine management stated that it had opened a case of harassment against him, and more charges would be added if he did not refrain from interrupting the grave exhumation.
“It has come to our attention that you have made threatening telephone calls to representatives of both Seriti and Mafu Funeral undertakers [Mafu is contracted under Seriti to deal with exhumation] in which you have threatened physical harm to the employees should the relocation process continue,” reads the letter.
“This threatening and intimidating behaviour culminated in a visit to Mafu’s offices where this threat was repeated by yourself. As a result, Seriti Security personnel have laid a criminal complaint against you [Masilela] at the Blinkpan SAPS under case number: 23/07/2022. We wish to reiterate that this sort of behaviour is viewed in a very serious light and it will not be tolerated, Seriti intends to pursue these criminal charges against you to the fullest extent possible. We require you to immediately cease making these threats and intimidating our employees.”
The letter also said Masilela must provide proof that his organisation has the mandate to represent the affected families.
Masilela and his organisation have vowed to continue with the investigations.
“These people are intimidating us just to interrupt us from doing our job. I went to the police station where they opened the case against me,” he said.
“The police said they will telephone
me as soon as the national prosecution authority finalised the case against me. Since then I am still waiting for their phone call.
“The families approached us for assistance and we are working on establishing more information on the matter. As we were busy trying to attend to the first case, the mine continued to exhume more graves during the lockdown. We are currently seeking legal advice on how to assist the affected families. However, our preliminary investigations revealed that the mine did not interact with the families.
“We also discovered that they exhumed 25 graves and buried the remains in a single shallow grave. Mpumalanga alone has about 500 cases in which mining companies allegedly abused residents.”
When contacted for comment, Seriti mine said it was aware of the allegations.
The mine only responded to the questions about the Mtshweni grave and its case against the Vulamehlo Kusile Foundation’s Masilela.
“We wish to state on the record that the allegations are false. We received a complaint from a family that Seriti had wrongfully exhumed a grave at the Wolvenfontein farm where Seriti is the surface and mining rights holder,” said Seriti spokesperson Linda Khuluse.
“The grave in question was identified by an interested party who confirmed by way of an affidavit that it contained the remains of a deceased relative. Seriti, following consultation with the affected families and having obtained the relevant statutory and regulatory authorisations, appointed a service provider to proceed with the exhumation. The remains were kept at a human remains storage facility for further investigation.”
When asked about the letter ordering Masilela to stop assisting the families, Lukhuse confirmed that the criminal case had been opened.
The mine denied the allegation of burying the remains of 20 bodies in a shallow grave but did not say what had happened to the remains.