Unemployed and struggling to find work, the couple Lee-Anne and Charles Martin turned to cleaning graves for a living. Many of Lee-Anne’s relatives are buried at the Secunda Joe Slovo Cemetery, where the couple began cleaning.

“While cleaning a grave for a relative, a man approached us and asked what we’d charge to clean a grave. That’s when we saw an opportunity,” said Charles.

The couple launched their business with a borrowed weed eater and gardening tools. One grave clean-up led to another, and by advertising their services on Facebook, they now maintain around 108 graves in Secunda, Trichardt and Evander.

“We couldn’t wait for work. Cleaning graves has allowed us the opportunity to survive and save up for my son, who needs braces.

“We encounter snakes, horse flies, spiders, termites, ants, bees and even herding dogs chasing us. We endure a lot and get bitten. The horse flies are the worst,” said Lee-Anne.

She said cleaning graves can take anything from an hour to days, depending on the state.

“One grave took us three days to clean because of a termite heap,” said Lee-Anne.

She said they go the extra mile when cleaning a little one’s grave, or decorating for celebrations of what would have been a birthday, or holidays like Christmas.

“We will place balloons or Christmas decorations at no extra cost. We do it because we want to. For some people, the grief is too much to bear, and they don’t want to see the graves,” said Lee-Anne.
Charles said their biggest challenge is the long grass and the state of the roads leading to the cemeteries, namely Evander.

They have also encountered shots being fired during an unveiling in Evander.

“We were cleaning one of our regular graves when there was an unveiling with around two hundred people present. There was another funeral with more people, when a man drove in with a BMW, firing shots in the air. There were even people dancing and drinking on graves. It was so scary, both us and those at the unveiling, along with the orchestra, left,” said Charles.

For safety, the couple communicate via two-way radios after encountering “snoopers”.

“We don’t work too far apart from each other or leave each other’s sight. If it is not safe, we leave,” said Charles.

Their services include mowing, removing weeds, spraying herbicide if needed, and washing tombstones. They also fix tombstones, make gardens, place artificial flowers and replace sand where graves have sunk.

Their costs start at R80 per clean, depending on the state and what needs to be done. Spraying of herbicide or fixing tombstones is an additional cost.
Additional costs are charged for graveyards outside Secunda.

“We feel our client’s grief. Some of the stories are sad about how they lost their loved ones,” said Charles.

Lee-Anne said searching for a grave among the long grass can be a challenge.

“We had a client who could not remember where her mother was buried. All she knew was that it was numbered 59C. After a two-hour search, we found it,” said Lee-Anne.

She said that if possible, photos of the grave, the full name and surname, and the dates the person was born and died would help with their search.

“We need sponsorship for PPE snake gaiters, overalls, gloves and branded T-shirts. Currently, we work with the clothes we wear at home,” said Lee-Anne.

Their biggest expense is petrol for the weed eater. For more information on the grave cleaning services, follow Lee-Anne Martin’s Facebook page.