Concern has arisen in the leadership as well as in the community of Zimbokodwen, Kwa Makhutha, over the discovery of a large number of human bones dumped in this area.
It is said that a number of bones with human heads were found in a roadside garbage dump on Monday.
According to the local councillor, Mrs Thabsile Zungu, the festival was hit by a drug addict, who is said to have come across bones while digging through the rubbish, looking for something to use as usual.
“When he opened the black plastic bags, he found that inside there were bones wrapped in blankets. He then went to inform the community that lives near the garbage dump, and said that he had seen someone who dumped the garbage,” said Mrs. Zungu.
He said that when the person who was identified as an addict went to their house, he admitted that he was the one who threw the garbage, but revealed that he had been sent by someone who works at the Clairwood cemetery.
He said he told the public that he was taking people to put a stone in a certain grave when a person who called himself a cemetery clerk came to him and asked him to throw the garbage for him in the south of Durban.
“He said that the clerk told him that he was asking for it because the person who usually throws the garbage for him is not at work. It is said that he then paid him R400,” said Mrs. Zungu.
He said that the man told the public that he first tried to throw it away at the rubbish dump in Siphingo, but the security guards refused to allow him to go in and throw it away. He said the man revealed that the same thing happened at the garbage dump in Manzimtoti.
“He ended up choosing to throw it away near his family, and that’s where he successfully threw it away, but unfortunately he was spotted by a drug addict,” he said.
He said there were so many bones, that the forensics had to move them for two days.
“We are concerned as a community, we want an explanation as to whose bones are here and how they are located. We are saying this because we are frightened by the statement that a local resident has been asked to dispose of them because he is not at work to dispose of them. This leaves us with questions as to whether it is normal for there to be so many human bones being disposed of? We really have questions,” he said.
The local chief, Mr. Khangelani Makhanya, said they were crying the same as the councillor, and said he was shocked to death when he saw a lot of human bones.
“We are horrified by the fact that human remains are being dumped in our area because we at the brown house consider human bones as human corpses. The discovery of so many of them means that we do not respect human dignity at all,” said Makhanya.
He said they are planning to hold a public meeting where they will inform all of them about the incident that has happened in the area and start a plan to clean up the scene, according to tradition.
KwaZulu-Natal police spokesperson, Colonel Robert Netshiunda, said yesterday that KwaMakhutha police have taken two men to question them on the matter
He said this comes after the discovery of human bones at the rubbish dump at Number 5, Kwa Makhutha.
“The post mortem will be opened for investigation. The investigation that has been carried out by the police shows that the bones were removed from the nearby cemetery and taken to a garbage dump,” said Netshiunda.
He said the circumstances that led to this incident will be part of the investigation.