Families are hopeful to soon visit graves on invaded land

THE families of those who were buried in the Seaview Cemetery are hopeful they will soon be able to visit the gravesites of their loved ones, after the land was invaded by informal dwellers more than 20 years ago. Some of their makeshift homes were built on top of gravesites.

- NADIA KHAN

Siboniso Duma, the MEC for Transport and Human Settlements in KwaZulu-Natal, said graveyards were sacred places and should be respected.

He said the department was in the process of profiling the informal dwellers with the aim of relocating them.

“Our hearts are with the families of the departed souls that should be resting in peace in the cemetery. We recall that residents were forcefully removed from the area as a result of the Group Areas Act. Under a democratic government, they must be allowed to reconnect with their loved ones,” said Duma.

He said Max Mbili, the head of the Human Settlements Department, officials and a team of community-based workers were in the process of profiling people living in the cemetery.

“While we understand that people are moving from far-flung areas to eThekwini in search of socioeconomic opportunities, and that there is a shortage of houses and land. We call on communities to respect the departed soul. Cemeteries are sacred places where the dead must be allowed to rest in peace.

“We now want to establish the identity of the people there, whether they received houses in the past in Welbedacht and sold them, or rented them out. We also want to ensure that only South Africans are registered as per the government policy.”

Duma added that the department supported the upcoming national dialogue, which was spearheaded by President Cyril Ramaphosa.