Umhlali Cemetery in a grave state of disrepair

It is generally accepted that those interred at cemeteries are dead but not forgotten, this is not the case at Umhlali Cemetery.

A walk through the graveyard reveals that proper maintenance has long since gone by the wayside.

Recognisable North Coast family names, Balcomb, Hulett and Townsend can all be found there, but you will have to look closely to notice, given the terrible state of the tombstones.

The cemetery has been in operation for at least 162 years, with the oldest tombstone dating back to 1859. Ballito resident, Delia Jay, wrote in to the Courier regarding the conditions.

“A short visit to the Umhlali Cemetery made me feel shame for the complete lack of respect for the dead. It borders on a callous disregard. Irrespective of your religious beliefs, feelings of spirituality or concerns about the resting souls, no grave should look this way,” she said.

Overgrown hedges and vegetation, along with crumbling, misaligned and fallen tombstones all litter the site. As does actual litter.

Empty alcohol bottles are strewn across the ground and a strong smell of urine is noticeable.

The grass however, was mown, proving that municipal workers had recently been to the cemetery.

“I felt shivers at what these ancestors would think of the new generation who couldn’t care less about the past and their dead,” said Jay.

The cemetery is run by KwaDukuza Municipality (KDM) community services department, as are all public cemeteries in the region.

Michael Bishop, minister at the Umhlali Methodist church (opposite the cemetery) confirmed that KDM were in charge of the maintenance.

“Although the KDM parks officers do come and mow reasonably often, there has not been much done in the way of maintenance for a long time,” he said.

Elsewhere in KDM, the Lindelani Cemetery is comparatively clean, with gravediggers active.

Many burials have occurred at the site over the past 10 years and it is currently active, while the almost full Umhlali Cemetery has only seen 2 burials in the same timeframe.

The fence at Lindelani cemetery is broken, but there is no litter or vagrants.

This is also the case at Vlakspruit Cemetery (inland of Nkobongo), which was launched by KDM in 2018 to meet the growing demand for burial sites.

It has space for 17 000 graves and cost KDM R49 million.

The cemetery has a guard at the gate, but still there are empty alcohol bottles scattered in places.

However Vlakspruit is by far the cleanest and best maintained cemetery of the 3.

KDM had not responded to questions at the time of going to print.

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