A Nyanga woman turned to Vukani for help when she feared her son’s grave had been tampered with, but the City says she erected her memorial on the wrong plot.
A weeping Nontuthuzelo Mqweshi said when her son, Thandisile, died in 2006, she had not been able to afford a tombstone, and, in 2009, resorted to putting bricks around the grave.
But when she went to visit the grave recently, she found the bricks had been removed.
The 55-year-old mother told Vukani that she had visited her son’s grave at the beginning of the month and was baffled when she discovered that a cross bearing her son’s name was on another grave.
She said she immediately alerted her relatives while she was still at the graveyard and also informed the security guards.
The last time Ms Mqweshi had visited the grave before that was in December last year.
“I want the authorities to establish what really happened and explain to me. I want to be buried in the same grave with my only child, but that cannot happen now until this mystery has been resolved,” she told Vukani.
Ms Mqweshi frequently visits the grave with her grandchildren so they can communicate with their father and seek blessings. But she is now unable to do that. “I want my son’s grave back,” she said.
City mayoral committee member Siyabulela Mamkeli said according to the City’s records, Thandisile Mqweshi’s grave number was CA 10429 BS. He explained the City had received a complaint that a memorial had been removed and a tombstone erected for the Mkhaba family. And when they checked their books, they found that the Mkhaba tombstone was, in fact, in the correct place and the different plot number matched their grave.
“On grave 10429, there was never a memorial and this means that Mrs Mqweshi had erected a memorial on the wrong plot.
This was communicated to Mrs Mqweshi and she understood. She has not been to our offices after that, but we will contact her to further explain and assist where possible,” he said.
