A team of scientists from the University of Pretoria is scheduled to begin excavations on Wednesday to determine whether there is a mass grave outside Laingsburg in the Karoo.
”We are excavating an area about 40 metres by 60 meters, digging down to a depth of about one to four metres,” human remains expert Prof Maryna Steyn said at the site about three kilometres outside the town.
She said they should know in ten days to two weeks whether there were human remains at the site, which was once used as a landfill deposit.
She said earthmoving equipment would be used to clear the area, and then hand sorting would take place, as at an archaelogical dig. The excavation follows an inconclusive radar scan of the area by the Council for Geosience in a search for bodies allegedly dumped there after the floods that devastated the town in 1981.
Western Cape premier Marthinus van Schalkwyk said at the site that if any human remains were found, excavations would cease immediately.
”We need to get a conclusive answer. The dignity of the people is at stake and hopefully this will settle the issue once and for all.”
Van Schalkwyk alluded to the ”friction” that the Laingsburgcommunity was still experiencing more than 20 years after the floods, saying that the excavations would, he hoped, provide final answers.
Later on Wednesday a symbolic release of doves took place at the flood’s high-water mark in the town centre. – Sapa