i am an archaeologist/anthropologist based at howick, kzn. i would like to alert members of the amazizi clan that it is recently came to my attention that the ancestral graves of the amazizi are under threat from proposed commercial farm development. these graves, and associated settlement structures, are situated near colenso in the near vicinity of the tukela river. they date back to the early 1800’s (if not earlier), and belongs to a time/period of amazizi settlement of this area before the mfecane wars. there is good oral historical evidence by historians such as bryant, the stuart archives, professor john wright, and others that this area was inhabited by the amazizi in the period preceding king shaka zulu. according to national heritage legislation all developers must make a concerted effort to contact the relevant community or individuals as relating to graves earmarked for exhumation and possible destruction. this has not happened here. in fact, the relevant company called umhlando (owned by mr gavin anderson) maintain that these graves are older than 100 years and therefore have no community relevance. should members of the amazizi ( and other related descendants) wish to stop the exhumation of these graves and allow for traditional custom to be part of the process then please contact me so that i could forward you the relevant background documentation. this is extremely urgent as we are running out of time. in fact, the same company (umlando) has already exhumed ancestral amazizi graves in the area in 2010 and he was granted a permit by the local heritage agency to conduct these excavations – again no community involvement took place.