The High Court in Polokwane, Limpopo, has postponed the case against Eskom and the families of 79 people whose ancestral graves were exhumed to make way for the Eskom sub-station.
The remains were exhumed at Manogeng village outside Burgersfort. Both parties have been given time to settle the matter out of court.
The graves were exhumed and reburied at another site in April of this year.
The case was postponed giving both the defense and the applicant’s lawyers a chance to resolve the matter out of court, as per their request.
The families want the court to force Eskom and its implementing agent, Thero Holdings, to re-exhume the remains of their ancestors, which were re-buried in April. The remains had been kept in shipping containers for five years until they were reburied.
Some residents want DNA to be conducted on the remains so that related families can be identified.
“Eskom is claiming that the remains are too old for DNA tests to be conducted on them. We suggested a clairvoyant, which is part of our culture, to determine the families of each individual, but Eskom refused. They do this merely because they have money for court battles. Our forefathers were exhumed without informing us, and now that we need the truth and justice for them, Eskom doesn’t want to listen to us. We are asking the government to assist us.”
Eskom Stakeholder Manager, Tsholofelo Moreosele, earlier said, “The remains are too old for DNA tests to be conducted on them. She says there were groups of people who claimed to be the descendants of the deceased, which led to the delay of the reburial. Moreosele says the South African Heritage Resources Agency issued Eskom with a reburial permit after facilitating the process.”
