Man Arrested After Digging His Father’s Grave For Bones Saying He Wants To Be A Sangoma
A 28-year-old man was arrested by police with two bags filled with human remains he’d allegedly dug up in the graveyard in Moshawane Village, outside Mahikeng.
His dad was buried in 2004.
After exhuming the body, the man closed up the grave and carried on as if nothing had happened.
Cops on Tuesday visited his family to tell them the horrible news.
His mum said she couldn’t sleep at night thinking about her husband’s spirit roving around without a place to rest. The arrested man is her 10th child.
“It’s terrible what my son has done,” she said.
“I still can’t believe he dug up a two-metre deep grave.”
“He told me he wanted to be a sangoma.
“Maybe someone told him he needed to bring the bones of his late father.”
The mum said he was a normal child until he told them he wanted to be a sangoma.
“We don’t have a history of izangoma in our family, so I didn’t think he was serious,” she said.
“My son didn’t finish school, but liked working. He did piece jobs here and there.”
The man’s sister said she’ll not bury her father for a second time.
“I buried my father 16 years ago. My brother exhumed his body because he wanted to give him a better funeral,” she said.
“I want the police to release him. I want to look into his eyes and ask why he exhumed my father’s body.
“I want him to tell me where was he taking the bones.”
She said he was heading towards Vryburg town.
Their father, who was originally from KZN, came to Moshawane Village years ago because he had a job.
He married two wives at the village and had two households. The son came from a second marriage.
The first wife said she wanted the police to give her the remains.
“We want to see if we can’t rebury him,” she said.
At the cemetery, Alfred’s grave looked fresh, as if he’d been buried recently. The wife said she didn’t suspect anything.
“I’d have come and prayed, thinking my husband’s body was here, not knowing my son took him.
“This is a curse and I don’t know if we’ll ever recover.”
Brigadier Sabata Mokgwabone said the man appeared in the Mmabatho Magistrate Court yesterday.
“We’ve opened a case of violation of a grave,” he said.
