LAND CLAIMS
Desecrated graves in Madikwe sum up the injustices the Barokologadi endure
'There was a time when we came here and found the bones of our ancestors lying on the surface'
As he stares at the destroyed headstones that have fallen over the graves and heaps of rocks that cover the graves, Amos Setou says: "We have touched the bones of our ancestors." A long, solemn silence follows. The cemetery, a few metres from the main gate of the acclaimed Madikwe Game Reserve outside Zeerust in the North West, is hidden by overgrown grass and dense shrubs. "In loving memory of our father Kefase Caiphus Sephoti, born 15-04-1904, died 10-11-1947," reads the remaining intact headstone, which is protected by a steel fence. The graves are all that remained after the Barokologadi ba ga Maotoe communities were forcefully removed from the land in line with apartheid dispossession policies in 1950. In 2007, the government restored 26,166ha of the land to the community, who lodged their claim in 1996. About 16,000ha of their land is inside the Madikwe Game Reserve, while the rest borders the 75,000ha park to the east.
Setou, 51, is GM of the Barokologadi Community Prop...
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