Induna stops funeral over land dispute
The 58-year-old's funeral was on Saturday, August 13 but all proceedings were stopped by the Induna of the area who said the family could not bury Mkhungo in Nyangwini since the land did not belong to the Mkhungo family.
The Mkhungo family in Nyangwini under Mthwalume is now relieved that they can bury their mother, Rose Manase Mkhungo after her body had been kept in a private mortuary for over a month.
The 58-year-old woman’s funeral was held on Saturday, August 13 but all proceedings were stopped by the Induna of the area who said the family could not bury her in Nyangwini since the land did not belong to the Mkhungo family.
Speaking to the Fever, the deceased’s daughter – Ntombifuthi Khwane said they were shocked and heartbroken when Izinduna stormed in during funeral proceedings asking them to stop the funeral.
Mkhungo died on July 20. Khwane said her older brother recently bought the land for R11 000 from a woman who claimed to have owned the land.
“The reason our mother was kept in a mortuary for over a month was because she did not have funeral cover, and as her children, we do not work or have a home of our own where we could bury her,” said Khwane.
She added that the money used for the funeral on Saturday was received from officials in Umzumbe Municipality through a relative. Also, the delays in burying her mother traumatised them because her mother’s body was starting to change.
“We were starting to have problems in identifying her face because she had spent so much time in a mortuary. She was starting to look like some sort of animal,” she said.
Khwane said after the Induna stopped the funeral, they had to call the private mortuary again asking them to keep the body until they could find a grave site. She said what worried them was the fact that they had to find money to pay for their mother being kept again in the mortuary.
Induna Sphiwe Maluleka of the Mathulini Traditional Council told Fever that they could not let the Mkhungo family go ahead with the funeral because the land they were doing the burial on was not officially handed over to the family.
“The rules of the Mathulini Traditional Council state that a person must be officially given the land and introduced to the community. These people bought the land from the wrong person and they called me two weeks ago telling me about their mother and I told them that the land is not yet theirs, since it has not been officially handed over to them,” said Maluleka.
He added that on Saturday, he was informed about the funeral by people who live close to the place where the funeral was being held.
Maluleka said: “So, as Izinduna we went there and told them that they need to take the body somewhere else. As the Mathulini Traditional Council we cannot allow anyone to take land and then dig up a grave. If we do this, random people will approach us and say you did this for a certain family, why can’t you do it for us.”
Meanwhile, Khwane said on Monday, they were called to the Mathulini Traditional Council where they were told that the official handover of the land will be done soon and they will be able to bury their mother thereafter.
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