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Granny burial at last

DISPUTED BURIAL: Deceased Mukumela Tshivhula, 92, will finally be buried. 05/10/07. © Unknown.
DISPUTED BURIAL: Deceased Mukumela Tshivhula, 92, will finally be buried. 05/10/07. © Unknown.

Elijar Mushiana and Khangale Makhado

The family of the 92-year-old Limpopo granny who died in January this year have breathed a sigh of relief after an agreement to bury her remains at the family's ancestral graveyard.

According to the agreement she will be buried on Saturday next week. When she died, Mukumela Tshivhula made headlines because she could not be buried.

Her family couldn't bury her because her family was unable to obtain permission from the owner of Cornerstone Farm to bury her in the family graveyard, situated on the farm.

Cornerstone Farm, which is situated in Waterpoort, outside Louis Trichardt, is jointly owned by Henno Breytenbach and his father.

The burial dispute was later referred to the High Court in Pretoria where the farmer won the case. Three weeks ago, Sowetan learnt that the farmer had, among other things, demanded to be reimbursed about R178000 allegedly lost during the case and for other related expenses.

But the matter seems to have been resolved following MEC for agriculture Dikeledi Magadzi's intervention.

Departmental spokesman Thembi Makhuvele yesterday said the department was happy that the family's dream to bury Tshivhula had finally been realised.

Makhuvele said negotiations between the farmer and Tshivhula's family as well as Magadzi's intervention had made it possible for Tshivhula's remains to be finally laid to rest next Saturday.

Tshivhula's body has been in the mortuary since her death in January, breaking the record as the corpse kept the longest.

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