'It’s terrible to see how people just abandon their loved ones and that there is no-one to take care of the cemetery.'
Graveyards in Pretoria East resemble forgotten sites replete with scattered litter, long grass and broken tombstones.
Now residents are starting a community cemetery cleanup project after shocking footage of the sad state of the graveyard on Matt Street was in the spotlight again earlier this year.
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Graveyard clean-up
Pretoria East resident Dana Ashoori, one of the organisers of the clean-up, said she had friends and loved ones buried in the cemetery and that was what motivated the initiative.
Ashoori said each time she visited the cemetery she noticed the overgrown grass, weeds, litter and serious safety concerns.
Some of the issues were broken or damaged tombstones, sunken graves, weeds, rubbish, broken water pipes and pieces of granite and debris scattered around.
The Friendly Satanist
Centurion resident known on social media as The Friendly Satanist Dr Tristán Kapp joined Ashoori last weekend on a clean-up at Garsfontein Cemetery.
Yesterday, they returned to the Pretoria East Cemetery to continue the clean-up. “Last week was the first day of the community-led cemetery clean-up.
“Like many, we were fed up with the municipality not doing anything to care for our dearly departed loved ones buried there. So we decided to take matters into our own hands,” he said.
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Group effort
Kapp had been thinking about cleaning up the cemetery and was delighted when Ashoori and Heli Konstant took the initiative.
“It would not have been possible without them. It is very exciting.
“My grandmother is buried there, so it drove me to help with the initiative and get something done about the situation,” he said. The group collected nine black bags of rubbish in three hours.
More support needed
Kapp said: “It’s terrible to see how people just abandon their loved ones and that there is no-one to take care of the cemetery.” He has invited the community to join them to continue the cleaning efforts.
“We need all the support we can get. There is much to do. The state of the cemetery is shameful,” he said.
Ward councillor Malcolm de Klerk said the City of Tshwane cut the grass in the cemetery on Matt Street recently.
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