Thousands of people including Voortrekker minister Erasmus Smit, Pietermaritzburg leader Solomon Dambuza, WW2 veterans and former mayors, may be turning in their graves, literally, after a new proposal by the Msunduzi municipality.
The Chief Albert Luthuli Road Heritage Cemetery, which contains about 4,000 graves, has been earmarked by the municipality for a new development.
While details of the development have not been made public, the descendants of those buried in the cemetery have vowed to oppose it.
Meanwhile there has been confusion over whether the land is owned by five churches or the municipality.
Msunduzi’s executive committee recommended that the full council approve the start of a public consultation process two weeks ago to develop the land and erect a wall of remembrance for the dead.
Clearly the person who wants to benefit from all of this has considerable financial clout
— Siyabulela Dambuza
For many years, the cemetery was known as Voortrekker Cemetery. However, before it stopped operating in 1948, it was the burial site for people of all races as it was the only graveyard in the city.
Historian Louis Eksteen’s search of the archives found Gumedes, Majozis, Sibiyas, Mtabelas, Naidoos, Pillays and Govenders among those buried in the cemetery.
“It gives you a totally new perspective as to the multicultural, diverse and complex composition of people buried here. Much more research needs to be done into how multiracial communities were in the past. The cemetery is one of the most important tangible historical sources to determine and document the past. Thus it is so important to preserve this historical landscape,” he said.
Siyabulela Dambuza, 56, whose grandfather Godrey Joseph Xola Dambuza was buried at the cemetery in the 1940s, was shocked by the municipality’s plan.
“What development would warrant such a move? Is it an apartment building or for business? Cemeteries are very sacred to us, and it’s our heritage,” he said.
He visited the grave for the first time in 1996 during an unveiling ceremony.
“Our family will consider legal action if this plan goes ahead,” he said.
His sister Thembeka, 63, said the graveyard should be a heritage site.
• 1948: The year the cemetery stopped burials
• 4,000: The approximate number of graves at the cemetery
— In numbers
Pietermaritzburg resident Neil Bloy’s ancestors are also buried there.
“My maternal great-grandparents are there, together with many members of the greater family, and all these people, the famous and the humble, should be left to rest in peace. It is an insult to all of them and their descendants to even consider developing the cemeteries.”
The Federation of Afrikaans Cultural Associations (FAK) was the first to object to protect Voortrekker graves dating back 180 years. It believes the municipality’s plan is “the first attempt at expropriation without compensation of property which belongs to the church”.
“The announcement of the intention for development in itself makes the state and the municipality’s intention very clear — theft of property. If the state wants to expropriate church land, the question is where will it stop?” said FAK deputy CEO Ziegfried van Huyssteen.
A law was passed in 1948 for the municipality to take full responsibility for the management of the cemetery. However, there was never a transfer of the land.
According to the deeds office, the Dutch Reformed Church, Anglican Church, Methodist Church, Catholic Church and Church of England are still the owners of the land.
The Anglican bishop of Natal, the Rt Revd Nkosinathi Ndwandwe, was unaware of the plan until he was contacted by the Sunday Times this week.
Other churches didn’t respond to queries.
The municipality did not respond to questions about the ownership of the land.
“The report is still on its way to council for a decision and that decision will not be for the development; it will be for a consultation process which will start internally among various affected departments. Thereafter a consultation with stakeholders such as affected government departments and Amafa [the KwaZulu-Natal Amafa & Research Institute, the province’s heritage resources agency], and then the genealogical society and the families,” said municipal spokesperson Ntobeko Mkhize.
Amafa said the municipality had agreed to a heritage impact assessment.
- Additional reporting by Mfundo Mkhize
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