Durban — A former municipal councillor in Waterloo, north of Durban, said there was a possibility that houses in Waterloo were built on top of “graves”.
Tholithemba Mthiyane spoke to the Daily News after a recent meeting that included officials from eThekwini Municipality’s Department of Parks, Leisure and Cemeteries and members of the community.
The meeting followed the reported discovery of “graves” near houses in the eMaGroundini area, where residents uncovered what appeared to be a burial ground while they were cleaning the sport ground there last month.
Mthiyane said in the meeting that one of the eldest members of the community had told them there were people she had worked with at a hotel in uMhlanga, who are now based in Maoti.
He said the woman had said that the people had told her that their ancestors were buried in Waterloo.
Mthiyane said they then decided to visit the area with the elderly woman and were shocked to discover more “dunes” of rocks shaped like unmarked graves.
“One man also said there were graves by his house. Another woman stated that, while digging to build, she had discovered bones. However, they could not be sure if they were human,” he said.
Mthiyane said the municipality had promised to start a process of investigating this issue. He said it was obvious that more graves were being identified in the area.
“We are happy that the city is taking this matter very seriously.
“The meeting was open to the community, and they needed to be involved because (the issue of the alleged graves) affected them. Parks said they would share the responsibility with the cemeteries department.
“The community wants the bones to be dug out so they can be identified. Some went overboard, wanting to do that on the spot. However, we had to stop them because they could be digging (up) or tampering (with) a crime scene,” he said.
Mthiyane said the people buried in the alleged graves could have been placed there after the commission of a crime, while others could have been buried without their family's acknowledgement or killed. They were not sure.
He said it was also suggested securing the area with fencing, to avoid more digging on the site or more graves being discovered there.
“The police had clearly stated that they would only be involved after the municipality had informed them, because if there are bodies or bones they would need to be identified.”
Mthiyane said further investigations were required throughout the Waterloo area to look into the possibility that there could be graves under people's houses.
According to Mthiyane, the municipality promised that they would discuss the matter and bring the report back to the community.
Local ward councillor Johnson Chetty said he was hopeful the matter would be resolved progressively and respectfully.
Chetty said, looking at the area's history, it was clear there had been a farm on the site, and farmworkers had allegedly used the area as a grave site.
He said there was reason to believe that what had been discovered was their graves.
“Looking at the amount of sand on the site, we believe there is reason to believe that there are graves there, although there is no evidence. I have been on site with the members of the community park and the area manager. There were suggestions to have the area fenced and secured. This will help in accommodating those who may want to use the area while investigations are ongoing,” he said.
He said he was in contact with the municipality and would continue to liaise with it until the matter had been resolved.
Chetty said the authorities needed to deploy a forensic team to determine whether the site was a crime scene, revealed evidence of foul play, or was an old graveyard.
Municipality spokesperson Msawakhe Mayisela said the matter was very sensitive.
However, he said the city’s next course of action would be communicated to the media and the public in due course.
Daily News