Heritage Cases

This burial ground contains 15 graves located on RE Portion of the farm Blesbokfontein 38 IS, near Ogies, Mpumalanga Province. The graves will be affected by the expansion of coal mining in the area. According to the HIA that was conducted there were farm worker houses in the area approximately 200m southeast of the burial ground. Test excavation needs to be conducted in this area to confirm if graves are present. We have conducted a process of stakeholder engagement to identify the buried individuals and to obtain permission for exhumation and re-interment from the affected families, communities and other bona fide interested and affected parties. This process commenced on Wednesday, 7 December 2017 with the erection of bilingual (English and isiZulu) site notices at the burial ground. Bilingual (isiZulu and English) newspaper notices were published in the Daily Sun and Witbank News on Tuesday, 16 January 2018 and Wednesday, 19 January 2018 respectively. Of the 15 graves, six have associated next-of-kin who have requested that their graves be relocated. The graves will be relocated to the cemeteries as requested by the family representatives. The remaining nine unclaimed graves will be relocated to the closest municipal cemetery, Kromdraai Cemetery. Of the 15 graves, only one date of death is known by the family, while 5 graves are claimed by family, but the date of death is not known, therefore 14 graves are assumed to be older than 60 years old as stipulated in the National Heritage Act (Act 25 of 1999). Mosaic Funeral Group will be responsible for the handling and reburial of the exhumed human remains.