Maintenance work starts at Rebecca Street and Zandfontein cemeteries
“Instead of dispatching small teams to maintain the cemeteries around Pretoria, there needs to be one big team to conduct maintenance at each of the cemeteries.”
Tshwane metro has dispatched workers to start maintenance work at two cemeteries in the west of Pretoria.
The metro told Rekord this week that maintenance teams were sent to the Rebecca Street and Zandfontein cemeteries to clean up and cut the grass.
“Maintenance of the cemeteries is a process and takes on average two to three weeks cycle to conclude,” spokesperson Lindela Mashigo said.
“However, we are competing with recent downpours that have contributed to the rapid growth of the shrubs.”
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DA ward councillor for the area Frik van Wyk said he was “thrilled” that work was done at the cemetery but was of the metro for not properly supervising the contractors it appointed.
He suggested the metro use staff instead of contractors to do the maintenance at the cemetery.
“I understand that the grass is very overgrown due to the recent rain we experienced,” he said.
“However, this should not be an excuse – we cannot keep on depending on contractors.”
He said that the cemetery was big and that special equipment was needed to cut the overgrown grass between the graves.
“Instead of dispatching small teams to maintain the cemeteries around Pretoria, there needs to be one big team to conduct maintenance at each of the cemeteries,” he said.
Van Wyk said trees were also currently being cut by teams in the Zandfontein cemetery.
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He said he had requested for this “for a while” and residents in the area had also complained about the state of the cemetery.
Resident Zelna Janse van Rensburg said that she had been “heartbroken” when she visited graves of her loved ones two weeks ago.
Janse van Rensburg said her father and brother were buried there.
“When I got there, the area was so overgrown that I had to go look for the graves,” she said.
“I just think it is unacceptable that you have to stumble over bushes and thorns in an attempt to reach your loved one.”
She said that a cemetery was supposed to be a “peaceful place”.
“We trust in the metro that our loved ones be kept in a safe place that we can visit on a Sunday and spend a little time there,” she said.
“But we cannot do that with the cemetery looking like this.”
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Janse van Rensburg said she considered cleaning up the place on her own.
“I would love to decorate the grave of my loved ones, but I cannot do that because it is too overgrown.”
She also complained about the open graves, adding that it was a safety hazard.
“What happens if someone falls into a grave,” she asked.
“Who will carry those medical costs? Certainly not the metro.”
Previously, Rekord reported that Capital Park resident Margaret Ferreira had taken matters into her own hands by cleaning the area around her loved ones’ grave.
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