Disenfranchised heritage. Ancestral graves and their legal protection in South Africa

Abstract

This thesis begins by providing an account of the ancestral grave relocations of the Sekuruwe community in Limpopo province, South Africa. Sekuruwe claims that the manner in which their graves were relocated disrespected their cultural norms, and infringed their constitutional rights. Over three years of investigation, it was proved that the mine which relocated the graves acted negligently by badly damaging human remains, confusing graves and loosing skeletons. The thesis investigates Sekuruwe‟s case within three theoretical frameworks: Systemic oppression, legal claims to culture, and Ethnicity Incorporated. The role of heritage legislation is highlighted throughout the thesis, and the inadequacies of legislation pointed out with reference to the different theoretical approaches. The aim of the thesis is to understand the way in which Sekuruwe‟s claims of cultural insensitivity are in fact claims of injustice, which are argued through the bodies (and graves, and spirits) of the dead. I aim to understand the way in which these claims of injustice are structured by heritage legislation.