Mother can finally rebury her son next to his father and brother

The high court in Polokwane has granted a mother her wish to rebury her son next to his father and brother at a village cemetery in Limpopo.

What is extraordinary about this matter is that the body of Glen Motomokgolo‚ 30‚ has been in mortuaries since it was exhumed from its gravesite almost four years ago.

Motomokgolo was buried at the Shawela village cemetery in May 2014 after his family found his body in a government mortuary in Pretoria following a motor accident in August 2013.

On the day of his burial in May 2014 there were rumours from the community that the body was not that of Motomokgolo but of an old man.

Six days after the burial‚ angry members of the community exhumed the coffin and dropped it at the Motomokgolo household in Shawela village.

The community then chased the Motomokgolo family out of the village and threatened to burn the family’s house.

DNA tests that were conducted by the police after the exhumation showed that the deceased was indeed Nkhensani’s son.

From May 2014 to November 2014‚ the deceased’s body remained in the government mortuary. It has been in the private Two Mountains Mortuary for storage until the matter was sorted out.

Although the Mahumani Traditional Council and its chief Hosi Khavareni Aaron Mahumani ordered Nkhensani to bury her son by December 2014‚ she had not been able to conduct the burial as community members had been obstructing her.

The traditional council and Mahumani opposed Nkhensani’s application to rebury her son next to his father and brother.

They said according to traditional custom‚ it was taboo to rebury an exhumed corpse in the same grave or cemetery.

Instead the council approached the Greater Giyani municipality to allocate a grave site for the deceased.

Nkhensani refused‚ and said she wanted her son to be buried at Shawela village. According to her‚ it was a taboo to separate blood.

Judge Maake Kganyago said in his judgment on Tuesday that the custom claimed by the council and the chief seemed not to exist.

He said while Mahumani said a body cannot be reburied in the same grave that had been allocated and dug‚ a traditional leader in the area‚ Raserope Chaisa‚ said an exhumed corpse was not allowed to be reburied in the same cemetery.

“(Mahumani) and (Chaisa)‚ who seem to be the elders in the community‚ are not speaking with one voice. In my view‚ it can therefore not be said that the alleged custom is certain‚ and uniformly observed for a long period of time.”