Municipality responds to complaint of grave

SECUNDA – The Engelbrecht family were shocked and horrified when they discovered a frame and pebbles had been removed from their son’s grave.

Mr Joseph and Ms Thelma Engelbrecht visit there son’s grave weekly and discovered two weeks ago that a wooden frame that was put around their son, Mr Chrisjan Engelbrecht, grave was removed and left on the side of the grave.

“It was a shock to see what my son’s grave looked like.

“We had put in a lot of effort by keeping his grave neat and tidy only to see it looking so bad,” Ms Engelbrecht said.

According to Ms Engelbrecht they had asked a groundsman what had happened to their son’s grave

“He told us we are not allowed to put a frame around the grave and that they had to remove it.

“No one contacted us in the months that the frame was up and to remove the frame and pebbles.

“The groundsman still had a cheek to tell us if we bring our own grass, he will plant it for us.

“We come to visit our son’s grave on a weekly basis, why did nobody tell us we were not allowed to put the frame around his grave?” Ms Engelbrecht said.

The shock and horror when they had to see all the work they had put in to keep the grave tidy, now just laying in a pile next to his grave.

Ms Engelbrecht said: “This is my son’s resting place and to see it in the state it was, was very upsetting.”

The Engelbechts’ lost their son in a car accisdent last February.

In July the family had put up a wooden frame around the grave with the pebbles in the middle and was not told by the groundsman nor the funeral company that this was not allowed.

“We even went as far as buying a petrol weed eater to cut the edges around the frame.

“Before that we use to use scissors to trim the edges and one time we even paid one of the groundsman to trim the edges for us.”

Ms Engelbrecht said they have seen in newspaper of graves being neglected and vandalised but said they took so much pride in keeping their son’s grave neat and clean on a weekly basis and could not see how a frame and a few pebbles would have been such a big problem.

Ms Engelbrecht said she was told by the groundsman that the reasons for not being allowed to have frames around the grave is because it is hard for groundsman to clean around the frames.

The Ridge Times contacted Mr Henry Masango, communications person for Govan Mbeki Municipality, regarding the matter.

According to Mr Masango, the Secunda Cemetery has got two sections which cater for landscape and full memorials.

The section that is currently open, is the landscape area.

“This section only covers for the erection of a headstone and not full memorials,” Mr Masango said.

The section is grassed on the body part of the grave. In terms of the applicable by-laws Chapter VIII (2) (m) Prohibited Acts; No person shall erect any partition or other objects on a grave unless it is a memorial stone.

He said: “In this regard the applicants for the graves are notified about the conditions applicable when they book graves for burials.

“The placing of pebbles, frames and other objects on the said graves were in contravention of the applicable by-laws.

“By removing the objects on the graves, council employees were acting in line with the said by-laws.”

Having checked with the employees about asking the complainant to bring their own grass and council staff will plant it for them, employees denied having said that to anybody.

“I am hereby putting on record that council employees do not ask residents to bring grass at the cemetery.

“If they bring it, council employees will not plant it for them.

“After a period and when the soil has reached some levels, the council do plant grass at the cemetery.

“Therefore, there is no need for the residents to bring their own grass.

“However, it does happen that in some instances some residents plant their own grass,” Mr Masango said

The council will continue removing objects that are not supposed to be on the graves.

He said: “It is noted that there are a number of objects and memorial stones that are erected or laid without approval from the authorised official of council.

“Such objects and memorial stones will be removed.

“Residents who have contravened the by-laws by erected memorial stones and or putting objects on the graves, are requested to remove it.”

Council officials will remove it if they are not removed by whoever, concerned.

The objects and structures that are removed, will be placed next to the graves for a period of seven days for the owners to pick up.

“If they that doesn’t happen, it will be removed to the dump site.

“The complainant we are responding to now, has hitherto, not removed the pebbles and some wooden structures from their grave,” Mr Masango ended.