'There is a mass grave'

2003-03-10 22:25

Philda Essop

Cape Town - There is a mass grave at Laingsburg. He helped to bury the bodies of flood victims in black bags behind the hills and he will point out the site of the grave.

Chris Vos, 71, retired undertaker, said on Monday he has had sleepless nights because of what happened in Laingsburg.

A government task team will have to make a recommendations about the alleged mass grave at Laingsburg to the Western Cape government on Wednesday.

Vos explained on Monday how he buried decomposed bodies in a large hole outside the town in 1981.

"I was in town for weeks after the flood because I was assisting a colleague.

"At the time, the bodies were kept at the local police station and in the late afternoon, one could smell the bodies. There wasn't enough room for all the bodies and they had to be disposed of because the smell was unbearable. I don't remember how it happened, but I had to bury bodies in a large hole at the time.

"There were no individual graves, only a big hole. It looked as if a bulldozer had made the hole. I can't remember the numbers, but I put several bodies into the grave," Vos said.

He said it was impossible to see the main road from the burial site, although this road is clearly visible from the existing cemetery.

"My memory fails me, but I am fairly sure the police told me to bury the bodies in that grave. I wouldn't have done it out of own volition. We worked closely with police. It is strange that the police have nothing to say about the allegations," he said.

He denied allegations that only Coloured people were buried in the grave. "Once a body starts to decompose, it changes colour, which makes it impossible to determine the race," Vos said.

Vos said he would do everything in his power to assist authorities in locating the grave. "This thing bothered me so much I couldn't sleep."

- Die Burger