Widow wants exhumation of husband who led ‘double life’

Grieving widow Enger Tikana has had little time to mourn her husband's death less than three weeks ago - instead she has been locked in a bitter family tug of war over his body.

Enger accuses her in-laws of having "stolen" her husband Rudolf's body, which is now buried in the Eastern Cape - some 800km from Johannesburg where he and Enger lived for the past 28 years. The couple lived with their sons, aged 27 and 29.

"If my husband could be exhumed and buried where he belongs, I'd find closure because I feel they stole him from me and our sons. This is painful to all of us," a tearful Enger said this week.

Rudolf, 64, a truck driver, was killed in a traffic accident in the Eastern Cape on January 5.

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When she heard of the plan to bury Rudolf on his parents' property in Cala, near Queenstown, Enger went to the High Court in Johannesburg on Friday last week which issued an interim order halting the burial. But it was too late; Rudolf had been buried two days earlier.

Engersaid she and her sons wanted Rudolf buried close to them. But her in-laws say their relative should be buried on his ancestral land.

A complication is that Rudolf led a "double life", with a customary wife in Cala, with whom he fathered seven children before he married Enger.

But Enger, 56, who lives in Palm Springs, Johannesburg, said her lawyers were preparing to apply for an order from a court in the Eastern Cape for an exhumation.

"My family is hurting. I have to deal with my husband's death, now I also have to deal with such disrespect from his family. I'd find closure if we could bring his body back home. My husband's wishes were that he be buried here in Johannesburg, close to his two sons and wife," Enger said.

"We want him exhumed so we can say our proper goodbyes. We were not even there when they buried him and that has left a huge void in my heart. What they are doing is very strange and hurtful."

She said Eastern Cape transport MEC Weziwe Tikana, who is Rudolf's cousin, had visited her two days after her husband's death and told her of the family's wish for him to be buried on his parents' land. "Weziwe and her family have never visited us before. I do not know why these people are doing this to us. I am diabetic and suffer from high blood pressure. This has had a bad effect on my health."

She accused the MEC of using her political power to "steal" Rudolf's body.

But Weziwe told the Sunday Times: "They should not pin this on me because I am a politician. I went there in my capacity as a Tikana family member." She said she had been sent to try and convince Enger that Rudolf should be buried in the Eastern Cape "as tradition dictates".

"I was not the only one from the family that went there."

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Mkhululi Tikana, Rudolf's eldest son by his customary wife, said he had a good relationship with his stepmother.

"I also stay in Johannesburg so I regularly visited them and they assisted me financially because I am not working. Things became sour when my father died, because she fought that he be buried in Johannesburg."

Mkhululi said Rudolf had visited his mother in Cala regularly. "My father lived a double life," he said, and it was important for Rudolf to be buried in Cala because he was the eldest of his siblings. "In our culture, the eldest must be buried next to his parents in the garden. His first wife is from Cala and he has seven children here, so it makes sense that he be buried here," Mkhululi said.

Traditional leader and former head of Contralesa chief Phathekile Holomisa agreed. "Our culture and tradition dictate that a man should be buried where his ancestors are, where his father is. I know courts like saying the wife will have a say, but that is not what our culture dictates. A man will only be at peace with his ancestors."

Enger said the customary wife was just a former girlfriend.

"I knew about this other lady. My husband told me about her a long time ago. I know that they had seven children and that they were never married. If she says they were married she must produce her marriage certificate and I will produce mine.

"I will not find closure until my husband's body is where it belongs."

siphem@thetimes.co.za