Mamelodi cemeteries overgrown, unsafe

Residents are pleading with the metro to cut overgrown grass at cemeteries due to safety concerns and to alleviate illegal dumping.

Many complaints have been made about the poor state of the cemeteries in Mamelodi, Eersterust and Heatherley.

They claimed the cemeteries are no longer safe with overgrown grass because they are scared of snakes hiding there.

According to residents visiting Mamelodi West Cemetery, it has been turned into a dumping site.

Jerry Mangope from Mamelodi East said he recently went to the Mamelodi West Cemetery and it was difficult to walk between the graves because of the overgrown grass.

Mangope said luckily, he knew where he was going and it was not hard for him to find the grave of his loved one.

“It is no longer safe to walk alone in the cemetery with drug addicts lurking in the area,” said Mangope.

Silus Motsepe said Heatherly Cemetery has overgrown grass too.

Motsepe said it is unsafe to walk alone in the cemetery and that security guards are patrolling outside.

He said you could become a victim of robbery or your car could be hijacked at any time because even if you scream for help there is no one nearby to come to the rescue.

He claimed residents living near the Mamelodi West Cemetery have no respect for the dead, as they are littering there.

Motsepe said it was the metro’s responsibility to clean the cemetery because residents paid their rates every month.

According to him, residents have to come with garden tools and pangas to cut the overgrown grass.

Metro spokesperson Lindela Mashigo said grass cutting at the Mamelodi West Cemetery commenced on Tuesday, and work at the Heatherley Cemetery is being carried out from March 6.

ALSO READ: Ninapark Cemetery becomes a difficult site to navigate, due to overgrown grass – resident

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