Mr Mbulaheni Sithagathaga of Mauluma village in the Dzanani area, was laid to rest at last at the back of his house last Saturday. This comes after the the Sithagathaga family were allegedly refused permission to bury him at the local cemetery in the village by the Ravele Traditional Authority.

The family had been at loggerheads with the Ravele dynasty for two weeks over the burial of Sithagathaga, a well-known South African National Civic Organisation (Sanco) member.

It is alleged that the traditional authority had refused permission for Sithagathaga to be buried in the village, simply because he was a member of Sanco. Sithagathaga (56) was supposed to have been buried on July 24, but the burial was stopped by the traditional authority. The family then decided to bury him at the back of his house, seeing that they had been denied permission to bury the deceased at a local graveyard.

The Ravele traditional authority then applied for an interdict at the Thohoyandou High Court, which stopped the burial on July 24. The court later gave the family permission to bury Sithagathaga at a grave which had already been erected at the back of his house.

According to community members, the Ravele dynasty had been at loggerheads with Sanco in the village for years. The traditional authority had ordered the family to pay R1 345 if they wanted to bury the deceased at a local graveyard.

The deceased´s brother, Mr Edward Sithagathaga, said the traditional authority wanted everything to be regulated by them without having the money people contribute when there is a funeral in the village audited. “Sanco members were ordered to pay a levy of R1 405 if they wanted to bury their family members in the local cemetery. We refused to pay the fee, because it must be paid by outsiders if they want to be buried at Mauluma village. The Ravele royal family denied us permission to bury our brother at the local cemetery. We decided to bury him at our own yard, and proceedings were stopped via an interdict just a few hours before the burial. We have lost about R30 000 because we had already prepared the food for the people and all logistics," he said.

The secretary of Sanco in the village, Mr George Tshiovhe, said the problem had existed since Sanco had taken over from "the so-called civil association that was regulated by the Ravele royal family".

When contacted for comment, an elder of the Ravele Dynasty, Mr Tutu Ravele, refused to comment, saying their issues couldn’t be solved by the media.