Family of the deceased Pitseng Gaoberekwe is hell-bent on burying his remains in the Central Kalahari Game Reserve (CKGR) and nowhere else. The family, which is in contention with government over his burial, says if the court rules against burying their deceased father at his desired final resting place in the CKGR then it will mean that they will not take his remains at all.

Gaoberekwe’s body has been lying at Joyce’s mortuary for over 11 months. This week, the Court of Appeal will hear both arguments from the deceased family and the State on the matter. Already the deceased family does not have much faith that the outcome of the matter will be in their favour.

“Le ha re sa tshephe di court tsa rona mme re tswelela ka kgang. We haven’t given up. We will pursue the case until justice is done. Go lebaka re emisitse merapelo. As the family, we are continuing with our lives as if the old man is still alive yet we know that he is still at the mortuary.

We are simply fighting for what he believed in. It has to be clear that my uncle was a CKGR person, not a New Xade one,” said family spokesperson, Smith Moeti.

“He had gone to New Xade to seek medical assistance and they had asked him to be closer to health facilities since his health was not good. Council also helped him because he was in that area by then.

He was still uncomfortable about being in that area when he was ill. He kept on talking about his home in the CKGR. That is where his life was based. Why should he be denied burial at his home when some are still buried there.” He said the family has decided that if the State wins the matter then they should leave the body to the State to perform the burial. According to Moeti, they cannot be seen to be going against what their uncle had said since they would not want to bring any curse into their lives.

What pains the family most is that after they tried to resolve their issue with the council and agreed that they would bear the costs of transporting the body to CKGR, the Department of Wildlife and National Parks also became part of the issue by blocking them from burying the deceased inside the game reserve.

“We don’t understand why they don’t want us to bury him there when other people are burying at CKGR. The matter is draining us emotionally and physically and the community is also concerned about it,” Moeti told The Monitor.

The Gaoberekwe family problems started when the children of the deceased, who were registered under the social welfare programme at New Xade village, requested that the body of their father be moved to CKGR where he has resided for years before he was taken to New Xade due to health conditions. The deceased’s children want their father’s burial rites performed at the CKGR as per his final wish. He has four children and his partner has since moved to the cattle post. Still, on the matter, Kgosi Lobatse Beslag of New Xade also stressed that the deceased must be buried at his home village which is the CKGR.

“I don’t think it is good to move someone because of medical assistance when he is dead. I am the chief of this area and I know people who had moved from CKGR to here. He does not even have a home in New Xade. I signed a letter for him to be given health assistance when he was temporarily staying with his relatives,” Beslag said.

“Health officials had advised us to do so. That is why in the end Ghanzi Council District agreed that he should be buried at CKGR. Maybe it is time that government must explain some of the things to the CKGR people.

Maybe if he knew that getting health assistance means that he had relocated to New Xade then he would not have agreed.” He told that residents of the area are not happy about how this issue has turned out.

Gaoberekwe’s body has been lying at Joyce’s mortuary for over 11

months