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News - Date: 30 March 2007
Well-known Limpopo funeral undertaker John Sigidi (68) of Tshitshithe & Bros made history by exhuming the remains of 14 of his late family members and reburying them in one place on the same day. This is one of the most amazing initiatives ever done by a single individual locally.
The reburial took place last week Wednesday, on Human Rights Day, at a special yard in the premises of Tshitshithe & Bros at Lwamondo. He calls the burial place Fulufhelo Lashu Bono Lashu Cemetery. What is also interesting is that the remains of two individuals were reburied in each divided grave, with only one headstone, bearing the names of the two deceased. This means that only seven graves were prepared for the remains of the 14 people. Sigidi has constructed more than 100 graves that he said would be used by his family in the same yard. He says he exhumed 10 of his beloved ones at Lwamondo Tshivhuyu and the remaining four were from Matatani.
Asked what compelled him to take the unusual initiative, Sigidi said: "I just thought it would far better to rebury them in one place, because relatives can see their final resting places without any difficulty. Besides that, it is also difficult to take care of the graves that are scattered in different places. This type of burial saves time and money. It also saves the land because I can bury 100 people on a small piece of land which could be used to bury 15 people in the normal graveyards."
Sigidi ventured fully into the funeral undertaking industry in November 1998. "My grandmother, Luvhengo, and my father, Edward, died in 1964 and 1975 respectively and I was not happy about the way they were buried. There was not even a single coffin for them but I told myself that I needed to do something about the situation. My mother, Nyambeni, died in 1989 and I told myself that I would bury her with dignity. I constructed a very attractive grave for her and people started inviting me to construct graves for them. I then resigned from my job as a builder and ventured into the funeral undertaking industry."
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