The exhumation of the late Keitumese Koloane (Maubane), who was buried in the wrong grave in 2019, has been postponed after the process fell flat twice this month.
THE EXHUMATION of the late Keitumese Koloane (Maubane), who was buried in the wrong grave in 2019, has been postponed after the process fell flat twice this month.
This is after the Office of the Public Protector instructed Sol Plaatje Municipality to perform the exhumation.
The exhumation process was unsuccessful on April 8 and again on April 14, reportedly due to poor communication between the municipality and the two families involved in the matter.
Koloane was buried on November 30, 2019 on top of the late Richard Louw, who died in 2012, instead of her late father Donald Semau, due to faulty grave markings.
The Office of the Public Protector, which has pointed the finger at the municipality for the mix-up, will oversee the exhumation as a remedial action following conclusion of investigation and release of Report No 65 of 2021/22.
The report highlights the improper conduct and maladministration in connection with the wrongful burial of Koloane in Louw’s grave.
The mix-up was initially detected by Raymond Louw, who was visiting his brother’s grave at the West End Cemetery when he came to Kimberley for the holidays in December 2019.
The two families (Koloane and Louw) were complete strangers and only met after the mix-up was discovered.
Upon the discovery, the Louw family were driven to personally track down the Koloane family as the municipality was “unhelpful”.
Raymond Louw said he realised that the tombstone that they had erected on his brother’s grave, on the same day of his burial in 2012, had been tampered with. It had also been moved to another grave site.
Upon approaching the municipality, he said he was sent from pillar to post after requesting that the other body be removed immediately.
According to Louw, they had reserved the space occupied by Koloane for their deceased’s twin brother, who was still alive.
The two families told of how the mix-up has disrupted their lives and had taken an emotional toll on them.
Louw said he approached the Office of the Public Protector after the municipality failed to find an amicable solution.
He also lost his job in Cape Town as he was unable to return to work in time due to the back-and-forth around the exhumation.
According to the family, the surviving twin brother has fallen ill after being diagnosed with cancer.
Louw said he was informed about the exhumation of Saturday, April 8 but was surprised to only meet the representative from the Public Protector’s Office at the cemetery.
A meeting was set up between the two families and the municipality on April 12, where he learned that the Koloane family disputed the exhumation after accusing the municipality of not following the proper procedures and of not informing them in time.
In its report, the Office of the Public Protector accused the municipality of failing to rectify the wrongful burial of Koloane in the grave of the late brother of Raymond Louw, since 2019, which is a violation of sections 4, 5(1) and (2) of the Sol Plaatje Municipality Cemeteries By-law, 2006, and Item 2 of the Code of Conduct for municipal staff members as set out in Schedule 2 to the Municipal Systems Act.
The report highlighted that the municipality failed to ensure that the graves were properly marked on a number affixed to the grave and the register of graves properly managed, as required by the Sol Plaatje Municipality Cemeteries By-law, 2006.
According to the report, a meeting was held with the municipality’s cemetery manager, Doctor Letebejane, on February 11, 2020 and with Goolam Akharwaray, the municipal manager, on December 2, 2021 regarding the matter.
The Public Protector pointed out that the complainant and his family had to bear the trauma caused by the wrongful burial and now had to go through the ordeal of exhumation and reburial.
“The municipality’s conduct accordingly constitutes improper conduct as envisaged by section 182(1) of the Constitution and maladministration in terms of section 6(4)(a)(ii) of the Public Protector Act,” the report stated.
According to the findings in the report, the first grave was dug in the pathway to bury Richard Louw in Grave Cath T-A-1 A on June 9, 2012 at the Catholic Block T-Row A of West End Cemetery.
“The second grave was subsequently dug on the left side of Cath T-A-1 A to bury the late Donald Semau in Grave Cath T-A-1 A a week later on 16 June 2012.
“Due to lack of adequate space, the third grave could not be dug towards the left side of Semau’s grave but was instead dug on the right side of Louw’s grave (Cath T-A-1 A) to bury J Mokalake later on 23 June 2012. The grave was then registered as Cath T-A-3 A on the records.
“The numbering of the graves was never corrected on the records for the grave numbers to be in the correct sequence.
“The Koloane family completed the Burial Application Form dated 27 November 2019 for the late Keitumetse Koloane to be buried with her father, D Semau, in grave Cath T-A- 2 A. The same form was completed by the late Semau’s brother, Molwana Semau, giving authorisation for Keitumetse Koloane (niece) to be buried on top of her father.
“From the investigation, there is no confirmation that neither the Koloane nor the Semau family members personally identified D Semau’s grave that had to be reopened to satisfy themselves that it is the correct grave.”
The report states further that one of the West End Cemetery’s employees perused the correct Burial Record Book to identify Grave Cath T-A- 2 A that the grave diggers had to reopen for the burial of Keitumetse.
“In terms of the layout of the graves, the employee innocently counted the graves following the correct order, which implied that the first grave was Richard Louw’s grave marked as T-A-3 A, the second grave 2A was identified as Grave Cath T-A- 2 A, which should belong to Donald Semau, and the last grave 3A belonging to J Mokalake, which in actual fact belongs to Semau.
“The employee noticed that the grave ostensibly belonging to D Semau that needed to be reopened had a tombstone belonging to R Louw, which, according to him, was erected on the wrong grave.
“The employee reportedly took it up with the cemetery’s controller, Mr May, who was convinced that the late Louw’s tombstone was erected on a grave belonging to the late Semau.
“Due to time constraints in preparing for that particular week’s burials, a decision was then taken to remove Louw’s tombstone with the intention of contacting the Louw family to inform them of their findings that the tombstone was laid on Semau’s grave. The tombstone was then placed on Mokalake’s grave as it was believed that Mokalake’s grave was Louw’s.
“The grave was reopened with no intention of tampering with Louw’s, but to innocently have Koloane buried in a grave that it was believed belonged to her father.
“In a letter dated 17 August 2020 and addressed to the complainant, Bogacwi, the executive director: community and social development services of the municipality, apologised for the wrongful burial and the inconvenience caused to the family and assured the family that the matter was taken seriously and that a multi-disciplinary task team had been established to ensure that this matter was resolved amicably.
“Bogacwi further stated that the process had since been disrupted by the Covid-19 lockdown that commenced on 27 March 2020.”
The Koloane family explained how they have been struggling to come to terms with what had happened and felt the ancestors were triggered by the mix-up ever since they were paid a visit by the Louw family to inform them of the matter.
They want the municipality to foot the bill for a cleansing ceremony.
They accused the municipality of a lack of respect and commitment in the matter, and of not following the required procedures.
They said they expected proper engagements in order for the cultural aspect of the matter to also be considered.
The two families are frustrated by the fact that they always have to meet a new delegation of officials because the previous administration, including the mayor, municipal manager, municipal spokesperson and the cemetery manager, are no longer with the municipality.
“This is so draining. Now we are confused after the municipality admitted to the mistake and promised to keep us updated … we are back to square one and are always asked to relay the whole story of what exactly happened every time there is a meeting.
“We can’t just be expected to process the exhumation without police authorisation, health inspectors and signed affidavits,” said Mimmie Koloane.
The two failed exhumation attempts were on Saturday, April 8 and Friday, April 14. The exhumation process was unsuccessful due to a communication breakdown between the municipality and the two bereaved families.
According to the families, for the first exhumation attempt, procedures were not finalised and the Koloane family was only informed at the eleventh hour.
The exhumation was then postponed to the following weekend, but it was decided in a meeting between all parties that the municipality did not fulfil its responsibilities.
The main representative of the Koloane family could also not avail herself due to other commitments.
