Gaoberekwe's body not yet interred
Tsaone Basimanebotlhe | Monday March 6, 2023 06:00
It wants the government to allow it to bury their father in the Central Kalahari Game Reserve (CKGR). Gaoberekwe’s body has been lying at the Joyce Funeral Parlour in Gantsi.
Late last year, the family raised its plan to approach the International Criminal Court of Justice after the Court of Appeal (CoA) dismissed a case in which the family wanted to bury their late father in the CKGR. The CoA gave the family seven days to have buried the deceased and allowed them to bury him at any place of their choice apart from the CKGR.
In an interview with the family spokesperson on Thursday, Smith Moeti said: “We had hoped that government will go and take the body for burial since they have denied us the right to bury our father at his respectable place which is the CKGR. As for the family, we cannot change our decision and we have continued with our lives as usual.”
Moeti also said if the government is not taking action on burying the deceased then as a family, they will have to take a certain decision which might be against what the government wants. In addition, Moeti said as a family, they strongly believe that the government is trampling on their rights because of their tribe as ‘Basarwa’.
He added: “We are always denied where we come from and every time Basarwa can be moved to any place that government wants without their consent. This is unfair to us. Again this treatment is not done to other tribes.” He maintained that if anyone wants to bury their father in any area outside Central Kalahari Game Reserve (CKGR), then he/she is free to do so.
He emphasised that the family is not going to take part in any burial of their father, which is outside the CKGR. He, however, said the government is free to take the body from the mortuary and they cannot fight for it but it will be the government's burial alone, he said.
The deceased’s remains have been lying in the mortuary since mid-December 2021 pending the finalisation of the court case. Currently, the body is at the funeral parlour, which is far from New Xade village.
At some point, the family claimed that it was impossible to bury the deceased within the given seven days as per the Court decision but later after a family meeting, it was resolved that they will not take part in his burial. The family had disclosed to Mmegi that it owed Joyce Funeral Parlour over P100,000 at for keeping the body at the time.