The University of Venda (Univen) is being accused of demolishing ancestral graves to make way for buildings and roads recently. Now, these families want the remains of their forefathers to be reburied.
The families claim that they had been relocated from Marude Mpandani, next to Univen, to Ngovhela and Maungani during the apartheid era in the 1960s. Their ancestors' graves, however, were left behind. When development for Univen started in 1982, many of these graves had apparently been demolished and now, they say, more graves have been flattened to pave a road.
Mr Thomas Ndonyana (73), who used to live in this area, is still fuming about his family's grave site that had allegedly been demolished by Univen officials. He said he had only discovered that the graves had been removed to make way for the building of Univen in 1986. "This is a double blow for my family, who first had been forcefully removed from the area by the apartheid government in the 1960s. We do not even know what happened to the remains of my forefathers. I have sleepless nights about this. I used to visit the grave site regularly because this portion of land belonged to my family. I was shocked when I found out that the graves were no longer here," said Ndonyana.
He said the gravesite was of importance to them as this was the only place where they could communicate with their ancestors and inform the ancestors of a new birth in the family. "The gods are very angry, and it is only a matter of time before they listen to our prayers and deal with these dirty people, who are only after money," he said.
According to Ndonyana, he was given the run around when he enquired as to who was responsible for removing what was once his family's gravesite. He said they had had numerous discussions with Univen officials on this matter, but that no agreement had been reached. Now, he said, the families needed to be compensated because their rights had been violated.
Another family member who had been relocated from the area back then, Pastor Thizwilondwi Matodzi, was also unhappy. "My family lived here for years before we were moved in the period between 1961 and 1969 to go and reside at Ngovhela, Maungani and other areas. The government didn't care that we had been living here for years and they forcefully removed us."
Matodzi claims that bulldozers had dug up the remains of the dead when they started building a new road last year. "These remains were taken to another place where they were reburied by the municipality without consulting the families. All we want now is to have the remains dug up again and reburied with dignity where they belong."
Matodzi also claimed that buildings had been built inside the gravesite. "I am hurt and angry. This is an attack on my family. They have no respect for the dead," he said.
The spokesperson for Univen, Mr Takalani Dzaga, said that they had met with families on different occasions and requested them to come and identify their ancestral graves. He denied that the buildings and road were built on top of the gravesite but said Univen would erect a plaque containing the names of the deceased.