Family shocked by tombstone vandalism
“This is the second time they steal our artificial carpet placed on our mother's grave.”
The family of Ringani in Mamelodi demanded answers after their mother’s grave was vandalised twice in a row.
This came after Patricia Ringani (48) from Mamelodi East, extension 6, went to visit her mother’s grave only to find the grave was vandalised once again.
Ringani said this was the second time the artificial grass carpet was stolen. The family also discovered the steel name board was stolen.
“The first artificial carpet was stolen in March 2020 and the person who stole the mat actually ripped it off the grave,” said Ringani.
The matter was immediately reported to the security guards at Heatherly cemetery.
The family of Ringani said they replaced the artificial carpet because Tshwane metro no longer allow families to erect full tombstones for their loved ones.
“We were told to erect only the head tombstone not the full tombstone,” said Ringani.
She said they could not argue but she can’t recall what the reason was for having the headstone only.
However, the family said they went ahead and erected a headstone and placed artificial carpets a year after she was buried in 2018.
“In 2020 around March we went to our mother’s grave and found the artificial grass mat was ripped off and stolen,” said Ringani.
They replaced the artificial grass mat in September 2020 after months of saving again.
Ringani said the family raised close to R3 500 to buy the new mat, cement and mixed concrete sands and pay for labour.
She said this year around February it was stolen again. The security guards said they have no clue, again, and they even reported the matter at Mamelodi West cemetery but they also have no clue.
The family of Ringani suspects drug addicts stole the mat and believes they did it at night.
Tshwane metro spokesperson, Lindela Mashigo said the metro had not received any complaints and upon inspection couldn’t identify any vandalism nor damages to tombstones.
“Most artificial carpets were damaged by rain as well as the normal wear and tear of weather condition,” said Mashigo.
“The City pleads with residents and families to come forward should they have any complaints, so it can be recorded and attended to.”
He added that the metro has security patrolling the cemetery at night.
Due to budget constraints, we can have only one officer in the evening and one officer during the day.
“The issue will also be escalated with the TMPD to efficiently address the matter,” said Mashigo.
He added that the cemetery is a “berm” (concrete) strip section which means only headstones could be put up as per the endorsed community request and public participation prior to implementation with no objections received.
“The community admired the system used at Pretoria east cemetery and requested a similar layout as that of the suburban cemetery.”
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