The grave of Amalia |Hones, a royal lineage of the |Khomanin people, is now surrounded by shacks in the Havana Informal settlement.

This is after the Windhoek Municipality relocated some Windhoek residents to that area.

Ouma Amalia |Hones died in 1963 and is buried at farm 508, which is now known as Havana.

In accordance with the traditional norms, headmen and senior leaders of the |Khomanin normally visit this isolated grave site and speak to the ancestors, whose remains lay in this grave.

But over the years, communities have erected homes just mere meters from this graveside, considered to be sacred by the |Khomanin Traditional Authority.

A stone throws away from |Hones' grave, there is now this bar and one of the chiefs is confident there were at least two other graves at this site.

The chiefs claim that many people have been buried in this area, as early as the 1900s which is slowly being submerged by shacks.

The |Khomanin Traditional Authority paid a visit to Moses ||Garoeb Councilor Stefanus Ndengu, a constituency that houses Ouma Amalia's grave.

The burial site is sacred they informed him, and the late Ouma |Hones is the great, great grandmother of Juliane Gawa!Nas, the current Gaos of the |Khomanin people.

"We have taken note with sadness that there is construction happening in the vicinity of the area and we are afraid that some of our ancestors' graves can also be affected by the construction, as far as the tradition and the norms and beliefs of the |Khomanin are concerned when the burial site of our ancestors is sacred, one should not touch the graves and come and construct."
 
The |Khomanin Traditional Authority recommends that the regional council and the Windhoek Municipality construct a monument for |Hones, as well as erect a proper fence around the sacred ground.

"This is very important, that the Traditional Authority want to recognize the gravesite of the late Amalia |Hones, we need to have a monument so that we can remember those people, they are lying in our area, so we need to go ahead with this spirit of friendliness."