Disputed Mapungubwe Ancestral Relations and Untested Legitimacy Claims: The South African Government's Unscientific Non-Partisan Stance

The Mapungubwe story has been written by few historians, archaeologists and anthropologists with no conclusive ending. The South African land claims process has excavated the need for competition in relation to the Mapungubwe dynasty. Such behaviour was encouraged by the country's proclamation of the site as a national heritage and the publicity accorded to the wisdom of the unknown pioneers of African civilisation in Mapungubwe graves. Numerous South African societies have, after such proclamation, told the government that the unclaimed graves belong to their ancestors and they, therefore, should benefit from both the publicity and any material benefits accrued by government from such sites. In this saga of competing interests and values, the government of South Africa has remained nonpartisan in order to accommodate and recognise ancestral claims by all the clans. This paper argued that such unfettered recognition of ancestral history unrelated to cemetery (Mapungubwe) graves is inappropriate and unheard of in the African culture and that it undermines the government's ability to resolve local societal problems. The paper used a literature analysis approach to argue that the claim by government that in the absence of reliable proof from the past studies, all clans have a legitimate claim to Mapungubwe graves. This government position is incorrect because science can be used to determine the true ancestral relations of each clan. This paper concludes that only DNA testing can resolve the legitimacy or illegitimacy of the claims about the Mapungubwe gravesites.