Heritage Cases

Subsequent to the original exhumation and relocation of the graves from AEPC10 in 2017, a family came forward recently and claimed one of the graves which had been exhumed and reburied in the Kromdraai municipal cemetery. Representatives of PGS and Glencore met with the family on 7 December 2018 during which the family was shown the layout plan of the original burial ground and individual photographs of all the grave dressings. Using this information, the family was able to identify what they believed is their grave. The name on the dressing also confirmed that this was the grave of their grandmother. The family was informed that this grave had been exhumed during the grave relocation undertaken in March 2017 and buried in the Kromdraai municipal cemetery. The cemetery name and grave number was recorded on the day of the reburial, so the position of the human remains from the grave identified by the family is known and can be verified. However, during the meeting, one member of the family requested confirmation that the skeletal material buried in this cemetery plot at the new cemetery is in fact the skeletal material of their grandmother. The representative from Glencore then suggested that a DNA test could be undertaken to confirm the relation between the family representative and the skeletal remains. The deceased is the representative's father's mother. The next of kin have agreed to the exhumation, removal of a snall sample of bone (e.g. individual tooth) and sending it for DNA testing, At the meeting on 7 December 2018, the details of the DNA testing procedure were explained to the family, including the removal of a small piece of bone (preferably a tooth) from the deceased’s remains to be destroyed and compared to samples of DNA taken from the Next-of-Kin. The family agreed to the process at this meeting and subsequently provided written permission and request forms for the exhumation of the deceased from the new grave in order for a bone sample to be removed and sent for DNA testing