FIRST Nambatha Nhlapo found snuff and a calabash full of umqombothi next to the grave of her husband, Joseph.
Later she found the tombstone vandalised. Then, to make matters worse, she says she was told by Avalon Cemetery in Soweto that Joseph would be exhumed to make way for someone else to be buried there!
The 67-year-old from Zuurbekom in Westonaria said her whole life was turned upside down on Monday when she got a call from cemetery officials. She was allegedly told that her husband, who was laid to rest in 2007, had been put in the wrong grave.
“I couldn’t believe it,” she said.
Nambatha finds the thought of burying her husband again unbearable.
“I see these things on TV, but I never expected it to happen to me,” she said.
Nambatha said when she found the snuff and umqombothi next to the grave in 2013 she went to the cemetery offices and was told that someone might have mistaken Joseph’s grave for someone else’s. Between 2011 and last year the tombstone was vandalised four times.
“The tombstone had a structure around it with a tiled roof and glass door, but thugs took the tiles and the glass,” she said.
Joburg City Parks marketing manager Jenny Moodley promised to investigate.
“In the event that it is found the wrong body was buried in the grave and an eviction order was issued, the family will unfortunately have to comply,” she said.
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