NORMAN F LOUW of Birchleigh North writes:
Arriving this morning (April 3) at Zuurfontein Cemetery to visit our son Patrick’s memorial grave, I was shocked to see what I would call blatant disregard for the departed souls.
Management has now forced the ground staff to dig extra graves and disregard distances between graves.
My son’s memorial stone was half covered with clay and red soil. It took me hours to clean.
Low and behold, a staff member approached me, listened to my complaint and summoned a colleague to bring spades and in no time the soil was removed. Congratulations to the ground staff for their quick service to rectify the situation.
However, the management of parks and recreation deserves an urgent talk to manage the upkeep of this cemetery satisfactorily.
The perimeter wall, especially between the golf course and cemetery, is in an appalling state. Sections of the wall were removed and sections badly damaged. It is now a free access for pedestrians to enter the cemetery and take a shortcut to reach the industrial area, Spartan.
Zuurfontein Cemetery has become a rubbish dump, mainly from visitors and regular funeral attendees. This morning the green grass was littered with empty water bottles.
Please supply the cemetery with more bins and remove the broken bins which serve no purpose. The derelict building next to the concrete palisade and golf course must be demolished.
All dead trees, branches and unwanted foreign objects must be cleaned up on a regular basis. The main tar road in the centre of the cemetery was dug up years ago. This must be repaired now and not when the new budget allows for it.
It is management’s responsibility to keep up the standard of this facility and to follow up more regularly. Regular interaction with ground staff must take place daily and not monthly to action problem areas.
We as taxpayers demand a reasonable standard of effectiveness, attention to detail and a tranquil space to mourn our loved ones.
Themba Gadebe, spokesperson for the metro, replies:
Graves are dug according to bookings received and bookings are only made for immediate use. It is also allowed to dig extra graves when considered necessary due to the bookings that have been received.
The perimeter wall will be fixed subject to budget availability as perimeter walls are repeatedly vandalised.
Refuse in the cemetery is cleaned up once a week.
The derelict building is no longer used and is due to be demolished in the near future.
The tar road will be repaired subject to budget availability.
The trees are attended to as and when necessary.
