TZANEEN – René Annandale became a resident of Haenertsburg in December 2023, but she has been visiting the Haenertsburg cemetery regularly during the 22 years she lived in Polokwane.

She said that she did not have a loved one buried at the cemetery, and does not know anyone buried there, but she took a lot of photographs of the graves over the years, and found these photographs very useful now that the inscriptions on many headstones have faded.

“Moving among the graves, I often wondered about the illegible inscriptions, and was curious to know who was buried there. I’ve wanted to clean the headstones for a while, but I had to wait patiently for the right time to launch the project. I find it difficult to accept that a person can be vibrant and active, impact the lives of others, and in the blink of an eye they are gone. And life carries on as if they never existed; they only live on in the hearts of their loved ones,” she said.

Annandale said that she was motivated by people visiting the graves of loved ones, trying to make the cemetery a welcoming place, making people feel that they are coming into the presence of the memory of their loved ones, not coming to be reminded of their loss.

On a typical day in the cemetery, she would start by washing the headstone she had painted the day before.

“A final wash is always needed to remove specks of excess paint. I then move on to wash more headstones, averaging between 17-23 headstones a day, if I spend a full day at the cemetery. Once the stones are dry, I am able to determine which of those need to be painted,” she added.

She said that it takes one to two hours to paint the inscription on a headstone, depending on the lettering, the font used and the depth of the original inscription. Some inscriptions are deep, yet rough in texture. She has to consider all these factors in deciding whether to paint or not.

“I’ve had headstones that took two weeks to complete because of the complexity of the inscriptions,” she added.

She said that it can be physically demanding carrying buckets of water and scrubbing away at lichen and layers of dirt accumulated over decades, but she find it a rewarding task.

“Because headstones only require care years after death, I do not usually come into contact with newly grieving families. I do, however, encounter people who visit the graves of loved ones or dear friends. These visitors usually find comfort in talking about their loved ones and I spend a few moments with them, before giving them privacy,” she said.

Anndanale said that her project has three phases. The first phase is to make the lettering visible. The graves need to be documented, 322 graves have been documented to date and the list is not complete. The third phase is to publish a booklet.

“Each person in the cemetery has left memories. I thought it would be a way of honouring their memory. I want to ask family and friends of those buried here, to write down an anecdote, advice given, a special moment or a synopsis and send it to me at rene.dr730@gmail.com, I will then add the contributions in book form. I hope to get it published towards the end of next year. The proceeds will be donated to the Haenertsburg Garden Cottages.We often get visitors from all over because of the quaintness and locality of the cemetery. It does not have to resemble a dusty museum,” she concluded.