Scholtzfontein Graves
There are many graveyards found around National Parks. One of the common features with all of them is the racialisation of the burials. This racial differentiation ranges from farm workers and farm owners being buried in separate graveyards. Marakele National Park has a graveyard where the racial laws of Apartheid are on display. The Coetzee cemetery, which features 34 graves, has one grave belonging to the couple who were married against the racial laws. As people of different racial groups, it was deemed illegal for them to be in a romantic relationship. The graveyard has political significance because of the racial laws that prevented inter-racial marriages. It is currently one of the destinations used for visitation by tourists. The Addo Elephant National Park has a graveyard where a monument honouring those who died during the construction of the dam wall was erected. No Africans are mentioned by their names, as they were, seemingly, unknown. Yet, their White counterparts are identified by their names, even those of the babies that died during the same period. In the same park is a graveyard with very troubling headstones. While only farm workers are buried in this site, their employers had deemed it necessary to erect identification markers with very insulting descriptions of who was buried in a specific grave. As was common practice at the time, grown up men and women were simply identified as boys and girls, illustrating the racial attitudes of the time. These are just three examples, amongst many, where racial characterisation clearly defines the place of burial within a given landscape.
Noting such racial aspects that define the place of burial for a deceased individual, it is thus of great interest to find a graveyard, at Mokala National Park, where a farm owner and his young daughter are buried in the same burial site as the farm workers. This gravesite is still in active use, with the park having allowed it to continue being used as a burial site for the nearby community. The farm owner’s daughter, who died at six months from birth (born September 1944 and died in March 1945), is buried near to the father, a Mr Johannes C. Jacobus (born in June 1908 and died in February 1968), who owned the farm. His son continued family ownership of the farm until he sold it to SANParks.
GPS Waypoints: 29°15'05.7"S 24°14'14.1"E