Two mysterious graves emerged at a park in Shallcross this week.
Image: Doctor Ngcobo/Independent Newspapers
Mystery shrouds the discovery of two graves at a park in Shallcross, Durban this week.
It is believed police are waiting for the authorities to exhume the bodies believed to be in two graves which suddenly appeared at the Shallcross park this week.
The park appears to belong to the eThekwini Municipality.
The graves, which appear fresh, were first seen on Tuesday, near a tree usually used for its shade by a group of scholar transport drivers who rest there.
The drivers said the graves were not there earlier on Tuesday but some sort of digging was done in the afternoon, and people were at the graves “finishing them off”.
The drivers noted that the graves appeared to be of children’s size.
When the media arrived, the two sites had bricks marking what can be assumed to be the heads of the graves. Green plants and red flowers are scattered on the graves.
The taxi drivers told the media that a municipal worker came to the park on Thursday because he wanted to see for himself what he had seen on social media.
Two mysterious graves emerged at a park in Shallcross this week.
Image: Doctor Ngcobo/Independent Newspapers
The municipal worker returned with two other municipal workers and walked to the nearby mosque.
eThekwini Municipality spokesperson, Gugu Sisilana, stated that the municipality would never rebury bodies in an undignified manner or at an unauthorised site.
“We urge residents to urgently report this matter to the South African Police Service for further investigation,” Sisilana said.
Police have been approached for comment but did not respond by deadline.
Speaking to the media, Habibia Manzare Masjid chairperson Kader Goolam, said he did not know much about the graves but what he knew was that a family lived in the area about 50 to 60 years ago and part of the property was a gravesite and their families were buried there.
“When they came to Durban last weekend, they just revived the top of the graves. They had to make sure it’s visible to the public,” Goolam said.
Goolam said the police had cordoned off the area and were waiting for the authorities to dig up the graves.
Two mysterious graves emerged at a park in Shallcross this week.
Image: Doctor Ngcobo/Independent Newspapers
Survival Centre NPO co-director, Reverend Ethan Ramkuar, said: “We were stunned to see such a grave in a community park, which wasn’t there before, but allegedly by members of the community, that was a burial site years ago when Shallcross was first established.
“As a community-based organisation, we call on the eThekwini Municipality to do an inquest with the relevant law enforcement agencies.”
Ramkuar said police had cordoned off the area around 2pm.
The discovery of the graves comes after Shallcross has been a hive of activity after the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Human Settlements identified land parcels which will be used to construct housing for April 2022 and recent flood victims.
The news has not been well received by the Shallcross community which cited service delivery issues including water and electricity as part of service delivery concerns.
The community asked how more people can be brought into an area with unstable infrastructure, where they go days without water from their taps.
thobeka.ngema@inl.co.za
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