Dimbaza Mass Graves

The Apartheid government used the town Dimbaza as a 'dumping ground', a homeland ressetlement village (forced removals) and a site of political banishment for people between 1967 and 1969. The main influx of people occurred between December 1968 and February 1969. Families originated from small towns and white farms in Middeburg, Burgersdorp and Cape Town. There were no amenities in place when the first residents arrived in Dimbaza. People were temporarily housed in wooden huts with zinc roofs, before two-roomed cement and abestos houses were constructed. Running water was only provided after a year. In the early 1970s, many ex-Robben Islanders were banished to the area so that the security police could monitor them. The state had to introduce monthly rations of food and other necessities due to the harsh living conditions of the resettlement village. Mass starvation was a potential threat to the community. Large numbers of children under the age of 2 years old were dying from preventable diseases such as malnutrition, tuberculosis and measles. Dimbaza's town centre is the children's cemetery containing many unmarked graves. By May 1969, there were approximately 70 child graves in the children's Cemetery, although heavy rains washed away many of these early graves.