Police exhume 40 bodies secretly buried in Mookgophong cemetery

Limpopo Police on Monday began exhuming the remains of approximately 40 individuals who were secretly buried in paupers’ graves at the Mookgophong cemetery, Waterberg District.

According to a report by SABC News, the remains were buried in two separate graves without coffins, allegedly by a funeral parlor contracted by the provincial health department.

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They were buried without caskets in large numbers in two separate graves. The exhumation work started on Monday and is expected to be completed on Friday.

At this stage, entry to the Mookgophong cemetery has been prohibited until the process to exhume the paupers graves is completed.

“Firstly, we want to clarify that the individuals were indeed declared paupers. In such cases, the municipality is normally responsible for the burial,” said Limpopo Health Department spokesperson Neil Shikwambana.

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“However, due to the municipality facing its own challenges at the time, we had to intervene and secure a service provider to conduct the burials.

“Our storage facilities were under immense pressure. Imagine having 40 unclaimed bodies in our mortuaries. As for the allegation of a mass burial, we have launched an investigation into the matter,” he told the public broadcaster.