Concerned families wants Univen to allow them access to graves

Some concerned families are accusing the University of Venda in Thohoyandou, Limpopo, of denying them access to visit and perform rituals at the graves situated on the campus.

They say the university also vandalised their ancestral graves. According to the families, they previously held a meeting with the university to address their complaints and to request the university to stop desecrating the graves.

They allege that some buildings have been constructed on top of some graves.

The families were removed from the land where the university is situated between 1959 and 1970.

Two concerned family members,  Shumani Halata and Rosina Nefale say since their ancestral graves are no longer visible, they can no longer perform their ancestral ceremonies or rituals.

“Our ancestors are now worried about the way they are being treated by the University of Venda. Even our families are worried because we don’t have any communication. I am deeply hurt, when my grandchildren fall sick I have to go to the graves for rituals but now I can’t because the graves have been destroyed and vandalized,” says Nefale.

University spokesperson, Takalani Dzanga, says management has been co-operating with the families.

“It is clear that this people were buried before the university was established, so we have no doubt about that. So, the university has no problem in terms of allowing members of the community to access the campus to clean their graves and so forth. This is something that is non-negotiable and the university is working closely with the community to identify areas where their loved ones were buried, and over and above that, the university has appointed an archaeologist to assist in the identification of areas were the community members are alleging that they are graves,” says Dzanga.