Hundreds of families whose forefathers were killed fighting in the two world wars for Great Britain are yet to find closure as they do not know where they were buried.
And for those lucky enough to know where their loved ones were buried, they cannot exhume them and bury them at their homes because of bureaucracy.
This is the case for the Mancotywa family who has been trying to locate the grave of their father, Wesley, for almost 80 years.
Their search finally yielded the desired results when they learnt last year that Wesley, whom the family last saw in 1939 when he was taken to serve in World War 2, was buried at the East Bank cemetery, in East London.
But the family has been trying to have him exhumed so he could be buried at his Mthatha home.
His 79-year-old daughter, Feziwe, visited her father’s grave for the first time this week. However, her excitement was short-lived when she was told by officials from the national department of military veterans (DMV) that the graves were under the British government, meaning the family cannot exhume him.
Speaking with the Daily Dispatch at the East Bank cemetery, she said she was disappointed that even in his death her father’s rights to be close to his family were still trampled upon.
“I did not even know him because he was taken from us when I was still a baby. I grew up without him. I was raised by my mother. All I want now because I am also old, is for him to be buried at home, so that when I die, I can also be buried next to him,” the visibly emotional Feziwe said.
A DMV delegation accompanied the family to view the grave.
This was after family spokesperson Sonwabile Mancotywa had requested minister of defence and military veterans Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula to assist them to exhume his remains.
The DMV office manager to the deputy director-general, Shaun Booth, told the Dispatch the graves belonged to the British government.
“In 1918, the then British ruler King George gave an instruction that no war grave must ever be disturbed. So these graves are under the Commonwealth graves and do not belong to our government,” he said.
South Africa as a former colony of Britain is currently a member of Commonwealth and therefore a member of Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC).
All Commonwealth countries pay an annual subscription for the upkeep and maintenance of all the graves. This includes repairs and replacement of all head stones.
DMV spokesperson Phumeza Dzuguda said many families were desperately trying to exhume their loved ones.
“We have received hundreds [of] requests and [we] have lost count of all [the] requests received. None has been successful because of the international statutes that govern the honouring and memorialisation of all world war heroes,” she said.
The Mancotywa family is now planning to petition CMGC to allow them to exhume the remains.
“My grandfather endured a lot of pain and humiliation as they were recruited as slaves by the British. Eighty years after his death, the humiliation is still continuing and it’s not only him but hundreds others. This is against our culture and human rights for the family to bury the remains of their love one,” Sonwabile said.
All Commonwealth war graves in South Africa are protected by the provisions of protocol 1 of the Geneva Convention of 1949 relating to the protection of victims of international armed conflicts.
“This protocol protects all war graves from disturbance or exhumations without the consent of the commissioner,” Dzuguda said.
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