Durban - The KwaZulu-Natal government is to ask President Jacob Zuma to establish a commission of inquiry into the discovery of mass graves on a farm on the South Coast.
Speaking at a press briefing in the town of Dududu on Monday, Premier Senzo Mchunu said he had briefed the president verbally and would formally write to him by Friday.
Mchunu led a delegation of members of the Provincial Executive Council as well as traditional and religious leaders to the grave sites on Glenroy Farm, which was bought by Illovo Sugar from the Walter Lindsay family in 1989.
Also with them was Makhosi Nonhlanhla “Mshanelo” Nkomo, the sangoma whose dreams had led to the discovery.
Mchunu said from the appeal to the president, he was expecting a directive as to the level (national or provincial) at which the investigation would be conducted.
He called for a comprehensive, high-level investigation in the interests of justice.
“This will help shed light on what could have transpired, but also help our nation move forward and heal as we seek closure to our painful past. It is not going to be easy to identify who these victims were and to find their next-of-kin,” he said. “We appeal for patience and co-operation with all agencies that will be involved.”
The premier also urged people who had information to come forward.
Addressing the community at a later meeting in the area, Arts and Culture MEC, Ntombikayise Sibhidla-Saphetha, said she knew many people remembered what had gone on at the farm between the 1960s and 1980s.
She said she had received word that some residents were being intimidated into silence but assured them of the government’s protection.
The MEC said this was the kind of history her department wanted to document when it established the Oral History Unit.
Sibhidla-Saphetha said they would work with Nkomo until the sangoma felt comfortable that she had done all she was called on and needed to do according to her visions.
Mchunu said the matter brought back the pain and scars of the country’s history and highlighted the nature of the political economy under apartheid.
“It suggests that as we continue to extend dignity to the living through social protection, we equally have an obligation to extend the same to those who may be in the same condition as these remains here in Glenroy Farm, who are lying in there with no identity.
“It also says, the story of what happened in the sugar cane plantations of our country is yet to be uncovered and told in full.”
Mchunu said justice was paramount for the deceased and their families.
He and Sibhidla-Saphetha also confirmed that they were in contact with the Lindsay family but would not be drawn on the nature of the contact.
Meanwhile, the ANC's provincial secretary, Sihle Zikalala, called for the process to be sped up and for “tough measures” to be taken against those found to have “played a role that led to the death and secret burying of those victims”.
Daily News