Family troubled by people’s lack of respect for the dead
Duduza – A family in Duduza is still in shock after having recently discovered the slab of the tombstone of their mother has been stolen from the Nigel Cemetery.
According to the family members, niece Anna Ndlela (60) and son-in-law Paul Moloko (64), after gogo Dinah Sikhosana-Moshapalo (83) died on May 1, 2015 the family decided to buy a tombstone for her grave.
“We erected a tombstone for our mother, but it has been nothing but drama since then.
“The family bought a tombstone worth R17 500 which was supposed to be fully erected after Sikhosana-Moshapalo’s burial.
“However, the person we had made the purchase from just erected the head stone on the day of the funeral and did not finish off the job,” says Ndlela.
Moloko adds that this business then closed down and moved from Springs, leaving the job still incomplete.
“The family then got someone else who said they could finish off the job for R4 000 and in January, that person fitted the marble slab.
“But two weeks ago when I went to the cemetery I saw something was not right, so I went to check the tombstone,” explains Moloko.
To his surprise, the slab which had just been laid earlier this year was gone, and only white stones had been roughly poured in place of the stolen slab.
“The family later returned to investigate further, only to find that the slab of marble had been removed and when we asked, the security guards said they had not seen anything.
“At this point we don’t know who could have committed this evil act.
“This is very sad and hurtful as we are not putting this stone of remembrance for ourselves, but also for our children so that they can know where their grandmother is,” says Ndlela.
The family adds that this setback again means they have to shell out more money to buy another slab which is costing them money unnecessarily.
“How does the gate of the cemetery remain open even after 6pm, because this means people can do as they please anytime.
“Though we know nothing can be done to help us, we just want our people to be aware of what is happening in our cemeteries, because the person who took this slab is probably going to sell it again to make more money.
“It’s also sad knowing people don’t respect the dead anymore,” say Ndlela and Moloko.
