Waterval Boven train disaster commemoration slammed
The Mpumalanga Department of Sport, Culture and Recreation is still in the process of finding answers after a scathing attack in the national media, questioning their credentials and motivation in handling the 70th anniversary of the Waterval Boven train disaster, which claimed the lives of 63 migrant workers in 1949.
WATERVAL BOVEN – The controversial event went ahead last Friday, with dignitaries from South Africa and Mozambique finding themselves among unkempt monuments and the fallen shards of granite of a neglected mass grave.
The highly regarded, well-published social historian, Professor Charles van Onselen, previously from Wits and later a research fellow at the University of Pretoria, slammed those involved in the commemoration as “arrogant and poorly briefed nationalists” for the neglect and wrongful commemoration.
According to a recent News24 report by the seasoned journalist Pieter du Toit, Van Onselen believes commemoration events like these have been hijacked by politicians with no regard for historical accuracy or honesty about events and those involved.
And he is particularly scathing about the national and provincial governments’ lack of research to determine the real facts of the incident. He said government efforts to preserve “heritage” will always fail.
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In the light of this, Lowvelder hopes to soon publish the reaction of the department. Some pertinent questions regarding these accusations were asked earlier this week, but are still being tended to according to Sibongile Nkosi, spokesperson for the Mpumalanga Department of Sport, Culture and Recreation.
The independent registered civic heritage grouping, Mpumalanga Heritage, is very much aware of the neglect and damage done to the monument at the site of the disaster as well as the mass grave. These were unveiled by the wife of both previous heads of states of South Africa and Mozambique, Graça Machel, some ten years ago.
Some members of Mpumalanga Heritage who reside in Waterval Boven took it upon themselves to restore the monument at the site after it was vandalised.
Mpumalanga Heritage also contracted an organisation to clean up the overgrown grave in the cemetery of the old township some time ago. Town members have also offered to fix the poorly constructed mass grave, which has since fallen apart, but the department declined such help.
Duncan Ballantyne, chairman of Mpumalanga Heritage, said the organisation is monitoring the situation. He chose to give the municipality a chance to answer before he gave comment.
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