Skeleton uncovered in rural back garden

A Hennops River couple had a bone-chilling experience when they discovered the partial remains of a human skeleton while digging in their back garden.

What should have resulted in a beautiful water feature in their garden turned into the painful process of trying to discover who was buried less than four metres away from their back door.

Meryl and Helge Metzner decided to construct a water feature at their weekend retreat, a plot near the Hennops river.

After several pricey quotes they decided to build the feature themselves and started the project at the end of October.

Helge Metzner explained that the skeleton was discovered about 1.3m below the surface.

“I was not on site when it was discovered but could not believe my ears when I heard about it. To tell you the truth, it was rather amusing,” he said.

He said they stopped the construction immediately and contacted the Erasmia police, who arrived in full force to investigate.

Metzner said they were told by the forensic team that the skeleton could possibly be more than 50 years old and therefore would not fall under the jurisdiction of the police.

According to Metzner, the police told the family that they only get involved “with more recent bones”.

Metzner explained that this was when the painful process of trying to identify the skeleton started.

He said they were forced to close the “grave” in December due to the unpleasant smell, caused by the rain, that was coming from the hole.

He explained that they were referred to the co-ordinator for archaeology in the Forensic Anthropology Research Centre at the University of Pretoria.

“We were then informed that we had to try and get a permit and funding from the South African Heritage Resource Agency (Sahra) to be able to investigate and collect the remains for further investigation,” he said.

Metzner said that all efforts to obtain a permit met a dead end as the Sahra official who was in charge of issuing the permit had resigned and could obviously not assist them any further.

Metzner explained that there was no indication that the plot could have been a burial site.

“The house was constructed in the early seventies and, even though the plot is an unspoiled natural area, there would certainly have been some indication during the construction of the house,” he added.

He said they had been contacted by the CEO of Sahra in December, as well as by other officials, but no action had been taken to date.

Sibongile van Damme, the CEO of Sahra, is on leave and could not be reached by reporters for comment. - Pretoria News Weekend