Invasion of body-dumpers crowds out tradition in sacred forest

To rest in peace, Chief Netshidzivhe's bones - long after he dies - must be scattered near to those of his father in the sacred Thathe forest near Thohoyandou.

But the forest is fast filling up - with uninvited dead.

This week the chief, whose full name is Vho-Nkhangweleni Nelson Madzikule Netshidzivhe, reported the grave "hijackers" to the police in Thohoyandou for invading one of the country's most sacred sites.

The chief has also lodged a complaint with the Human Rights Commission, which will investigate the burials on the sacred site - which is also a state forest - about 30km outside town.

About 13 bodies have been illegally buried there, allegedly by a rival Christian chief who is defying Netshidzivhe's authority. Despite his pleas to the police to intervene, Netshidzivhe said, another body was buried in the Thathe forest last weekend .

"They must remove their dead and take them to the proper place. It is not too late," said Netshidzivhe, speaking through an interpreter at his village. "These people who are doing it don't stay in this village - they are just bringing their dead people and ignoring the culture."

At the heart of the row is a power struggle between rival chiefs and two sets of tradition.

Netshidzivhe and his subjects claim to be the custodians of the sacred site, where bones may be scattered - 15 years after they have been buried elsewhere and then disinterred, and only with his blessing and under special circumstances.

A new chief, Ramudingane Balanganani Dick, allows Western-style burials in the forest, with corpses in coffins placed in graves.

Netshidzivhe said Dick had been appointed under controversial circumstances by the area's paramount chief, Kennedy Tshivhase. Dick declined to comment.

Tshivhase made headlines earlier this month when he authorised the construction of tourist chalets at a sacred waterfall site about 40km from the Thathe Forest. The custodians of that site won a court interdict and building work was suspended.

The latest row has drawn heated comment from civil society, including those fighting for traditional rights. Elfrieda Pschorn-Strauss from GRAIN - an international organisation representing small farmers - said the leadership struggle in rural areas was linked to a struggle for resources, such as land.

New elites were undermining traditional structures and customs, she said.

Human rights lawyer Roger Chennells, who is representing Netshidzivhe, said the matter of the graves illustrated the need to protect traditional custom, which was steadily being eroded . In a letter to the Human Rights Commission, copied to the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, Chennells said: "The constitution protects the rights of groups to practise their own customs and traditions, and the Thathe Sacred Forest is at the very core of this tradition.

"The burial in the face of the chief and the clan's refusal to allow burials is a blatant insult to the chief, to the clan, and to the entire Venda tradition. The dispute goes to the core of the principle of respect for others."

HRC provincial manager Jeffrey Nkuna said he was looking into the matter. The provincial forestries manager declined to comment.

Thohoyandou police acting station commander Colonel Willy Mashaba said police had launched an inquiry into the complaint of illegal burials.