While the municipality has done much in recent months to upgrade graveyards in Dundee and Glencoe, vandals are doing their best to undo the good work.
The ‘general’ cemetery on Bulwer Street, where the graves date back to the early 1900s, is looking especially tatty.
Thieves have stolen the gate facing Bulwer Street and large sections of the fence, while those who use the graveyard for a shortcut to town and back, leave behind their litter, knock over headstones and generally leave, what should be a place of tranquility, looking shabby.
“It is an embarrassment,” said long-time resident, Peter Jones, whose parents and his wife, Decima’s, parents are buried there.
Some say they fear visiting the graveyard to place flowers on the graves of loved ones as the ‘place is not safe’. Patrick Ndlovu, Assistant Waste Manager, said ‘much work has been done to improve the graveyards in Endumeni’. “We are working to a tight budget and are proud that cemeteries have been re-fenced and cleaned up. We know that the Bulwer Street graveyard is looking bad. We cannot have security at every point and as a result people and even animals gain access to the area and cause damage.”
A section of the pre-cast wall has also been removed to allow pedestrians easier access.
The new palisade fence around the Sibongile cemetery – only installed a month ago – has been damaged by those using the area as short-cut.
“People should take care of cemeteries and all municipal property as ratepayers money is used to repair what they damage. Anyone witnessing a person damaging agraveyard, or any municipal property, should please contact the municipality or the Police,”Mr Ndlovu told the Courier.