Three people who had been buried on a piece of land earmarked for development at Mubalanganyi Secondary School at Mangaya village in the Mutale area, were reburied during a dignified ceremony that took place last week.

The reburial took on a party mood with family members beaming with happiness at the prospect of their loved ones being moved to a more visible area where they could be looked after.

Mac Rikhotso, Nwaxirilele Rikhotso and Lucas Salani Rikhotso lived in the area a long time ago. As was the norm in those days, people could be buried at any place where the family deemed fit and the Rikhotso family members were buried at a family plot which is now in a school yard. With the passing time, all other surviving family members relocated to Nthlaveni Block C outside Malamulele where they reside presently.

The graves of the three family members were left unattended for many years. Family spokesperson Mr Freddy Makondo said when the request was made to them, they embraced it with open arms. "We quickly called a meeting of the family and the issue was discussed. We weighed the offer and we reached a unanimous decision that they should be reburied at the local graveyard. We could not stand in the way of development," he said.

Makondo said the family was aware of the traditional implications and all were catered for before and during the reburial. Makondo said the offer they were given so was tempting that the whole family felt very relieved. "These people made us not incur any costs during the whole exercise. They also erected tombstones for our beloved relatives," he said. Makondo said as a family they were very humbled by the gesture from the school. "These graves were left unattended with no one to care for them as we are now residing very far from this place. They were not even marked and they were prone to be forgotten and future generations wouldn´t know about them," he said. He said the tombstones they erected would serve as reminders for generations to come and it would be possible for them to go and visit and also clean the graves.