Residents of Fochville have been unable to visit the graves of their loved ones at the town’s old cemetery for most of the past year, as the site remains severely overgrown and poorly maintained.

The graveyard, located between the municipal vehicle testing grounds and the rubbish transfer station, has reportedly been in an unusable state for months. During the summer, weeds and grass grew up to two metres high, covering the sidewalk and entrance, making it nearly impossible to access the cemetery.

According to residents and regular passers-by, the interior of the cemetery is often flooded, and now, even though some of the weeds near the entrance have died off, the grass inside remains so tall that visitors cannot reach most graves.

“Many of the graves are completely hidden under reeds and long grass,” one concerned local told the Herald.

Since April, the Herald has repeatedly asked the Merafong City Local Municipality when the cemetery will be cleaned. However, no maintenance work has taken place at the site by the time of publishing.

The ongoing neglect has left many families feeling angry and disrespected.