Fochville old graveyard neglected for years despite municipal promises
Overgrowth, flooding, and livestock are damaging graves, while municipal plans to clean the site have yet to materialize.
The old Fochville graveyard is still in a terrible state, and little has been done to maintain it during the past year.
The Herald has contacted the Merafong City Local Municipality about the condition of this graveyard, which is situated between the municipal vehicle testing grounds and the Fochville waste transfer station, for most of the past year.
Over the last rainy season, the entrance to the graveyard was so overgrown that no one could get inside to visit the graves of their family members.
Although the bushes next to the entrance to the graveyard have dried during the winter, it is still difficult to enter, as you have to make your way between waist-high weeds over a small ramp next to the road.
The graveyard is also often flooded, which has caused reeds to grow among the graves.
Because there is no gate to the facility, livestock often graze inside and damage graves.
When the Herald recently contacted the municipality over the state of the graveyard, their marketing and communication officer, Temba Fezani, said they planned to unblock the manhole next to the graveyard.
The graveyard will be cleaned once it has dried out. Despite this, no work had been done at the facility by October 2.
