Residents, metro roll up sleeves to clean-up Zandfontein cemetery
“I take the clean-up personal because my grandfather and brother are buried here,” says ward councillor.
Residents of the west of Pretoria and Tshwane metro embarked on a massive clean-up campaign at the Zandfontein cemetery on Saturday.
Photo: Ron Sibiya
“The purpose of the clean-up is to look after the area where our loved ones are resting for eternity,” ward 1 councillor Leon Kruyshaar told Rekord.
He said cleaning up the graveyard was important to him as some tombs belonged to some of his late relatives. “I take this clean-up campaign personal because my grandfather and brother are buried here.”
Photo: Ron Sibiya
Photo: Ron Sibiya
He said another purpose for the event was to remove high grass to discourage criminals from hiding in the area to rob residents visiting the cemetery.
“Several muggings have taken place at the cemetery,” he said, citing that it was high time that residents reclaimed the area to be able to clean graves of their relatives without fear of being attacked by criminals.
ALSO READ: Bogus Hawks arrested for R300 000 docket disappearance bribery
He said the effects of Covid-19 was one of the reasons behind the poor maintenance of the graveyard.
“With the adjusted budget, the city is now able to be more involved.”
He said extra power was needed to clean-up the park which had been in a bad state for some times.
“We need more than just a normal Tshwane metro team to clean the cemetery because the area has been in a bad state for a long time as a result of the Covid-19.”
Photo: Ron Sibiya
Photo: Ron Sibiya
Photo: Ron Sibiya
Photo: Ron Sibiya
He said the more they launched such projects, the more the community members would become involved which would make a difference.
“Being part of the project was a way of showing respect to those departed.”
ALSO READ: Distraught Erasmia family appeals for public help to find missing son
One of the residents who participated in the clean-up campaign, Debbie Smith said it was important for them as residents to stand up and do something about the bad state of the cemetery.
“We are doing it for our loved ones we are laid to rest here.”
She said the cemetery looked nice when it was clean.
Do you have more information about the story?
Please send us an email to editorial@rekord.co.za or phone us on 083 625 4114.
For free breaking and community news, visit Rekord’s websites: Rekord East
For more news and interesting articles, like Rekord on Facebook, follow us on Twitter or Instagram
