Heritage Cases

Mosaic Funeral Group will be responsible for the handling and reburial of the exhumed human remains. All 6 graves are older than 60 years according to the National Heritage Resources Act (Act 25 of 1999). This burial ground contains 4 graves and 2 features that could possibly be graves but need to be test excavated to confirm the presence of a grave. The Heritage Impact Assessment (HIA) conducted in 2009 stated there are 6 graves but during a recent survey, only 4 graves could be positively identified. Test excavations will be conducted in the extended area. The graves will be relocated to the closest municipal cemetery since no next-of-kin for the graves could be located. In this case, the graves will be relocated to Ogies Cemetery. If the features are confirmed graves after the test excavation they will be relocated there as well. The burial ground will be impacted by the expansion of coal mining by AEMFC. We have conducted a process of stakeholder engagement to identify 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 Tuesday, 22 September 2020 with the erection of bilingual (English and isiZulu) site notices at the burial ground. Bilingual (English and isiZulu) newspaper notices were published in the Daily Sun on 09 October 2020 and in the Witbank News on 16 and 23 October 2020 respectively. Bilingual pamphlet notices were distributed in the surrounding communities and to members of the public that may have an interest in the graves (this is a SAHRA COVID Regulations requirement). Archival research was conducted on the farm Vlakfontein and efforts were also made to locate death certificates for the Swart family. Unfortunately, no information could be found. The graves also do not appear on the topographical maps from the 1st edition (1940) to the 6th edition (2010). The Groenewald/Prinsloo family that resided on the Klipfontein farm to the west also could not assist with locating the Swart family. A search on Wikitree for the Swart family, especially for the name on the headstone, resulted in tracing the Delport family but the dates of the individual do not reflect the headstone dates and the deceased would then not have been buried under the Swart surname. There was also no information in the Pretoria Archive’s records on the Swart or Delport families that resided on the farm Vlakfontein. It is possible that these graves belonged to “bywoners” that resided on the farm during the 1920s and has long since moved on. The best practice will be to carry out a formal grave relocation with the required documentation. The graves will be relocated to the Ogies municipal cemetery. Should the family come forward, later on, they can be directed to their graves through the aforementioned documentation.