How can cemetery be left in such a state?

A distraught Rebecca Prinsloo recently visited the Germiston City News’ offices.

She explained that she went to the Thomas Nkobi Cemetery to have a tombstone placed on her husband’s grave and was appalled to discover that there are no numbers on the graves.

She spent over an hour searching for her husband’s grave in the waist high grass and rubbish.

She claimed she saw a number of metro workers sitting under the trees, but none were working.

The GCN approached the metro’s department of communication and brand management to find out:

q Why has the cemetery been left to get into such a state?

q Why do the graves not have numbers?

q When will the grass be cut and the rubbish collected?

Themba Gadebe, spokesman for the metro, replied to these queries with the following statement:

“The cemetery is contracted to GMZ contractors to do maintenance of the majority of the cemetery, while internal employees have a portion, including grave-digging.

“The current contractor is not working according to specification, however, they have promised to complete the whole cemetery by Wednesday, February 11.

“The issue regarding the cemetery workers could be due to a lot of factors and the city’s real estate department cannot respond without the specific times and dates when these workers were found sitting.

“In the past, the grave markers were being stolen because of the metal quality, but they have now been replaced with white plastic markers.

“In the event that the white plastic markers fade, grave numbers are available on request from the cemetery office.

“An intervention to construct a vandal proof grave numbering system is being investigated before being rolled out to all cemeteries.”

Have you had a similar experience at the Thomas Nkobi Cemetery?

The GCN was unable to reach GMZ contractors for comment.