Families usually visit their deceased loved ones at their final resting places to find comfort in times of sorrow. However, the Kromvlei Cemetery does not appear to provide that.
Issues at the grave site vary from overgrown grass, piles of stones, the illegal dumping of waste, finding accurate directions when visiting your loved one/s, and alleged corruption to soggy ground.
General Alberts Park’s Kotze family have had problems with Kromvlei Cemetery since burying their father, grandfather, and uncle, Chris, there.
According to Chris’ granddaughter, Jene Nieuwoudt, it has always been difficult for them as a family to spend time with their grandfather since his burial because their feelings always get worn out whenever visiting his grave.
Chris died on March 17, 2013, at the Johannesburg General Hospital.
Graves levelled
She said their March 23 visit to the cemetery left them torn apart because they could not identify where their grandfather’s grave site was due to its state.
“After his passing, we visited my grandfather’s grave as often as possible but not as much as we wanted because I was going through chemotherapy. As a family, we have been visiting the grave, cleaning it up and laying flowers.
On our last visit to the grave, we wanted to clean it up for the last time before putting up the gravestone. However, we were distraught at finding that a bulldozer levelled the graves, and we could not identify my grandfather’s,” Jene said.
Moreover, Jene said this was a devastating time for the family because they wanted answers as to why the graves were levelled.
Kotze family’s worst nightmare
After the family found the graves levelled, they went through another difficult time when the Kromvlei Cemetery workers mistakenly switched two grave numbers, their grandfather’s and the one next to him.
Jene told the Alberton Record that during their visit to the cemetery, they found things of remembrance from another family on top of Chris’ grave. It was then that they realised the grave numbers were switched.
“We realised this after asking management for the cemetery map. As much as we longed to put up a gravestone, we were aware that my grandfather did not want a tombstone, so it took us time to put up one because we were trying to think of a unique way to honour him.
“The switch of numbers forced us to do things rapidly, and we ended up putting a cement garden chair next to the grave to avoid what had transpired previously, but on our last visit, the chair was vandalised,” she said.
CoE’s response
The Alberton Record contacted the CoE because they previously sent a statement saying they were attending to the city’s cemeteries’ states.
The spokesperson of CoE, Zweli Dlamini, said the project to clean and maintain the grave sites had started a long time ago, and in Boksburg too, and they were done.
He said they prioritised Boksburg and its region areas, including Germiston, because of an event the city aims to host to honour the late Chris Hani on April 10.
“Alberton will be cleaned before the end of April because we have prioritised it. The reason for some delays is the recent rainfalls, plus preparing for Hani’s 31st death anniversary. We are sincerely sorry for all the inconveniences caused to the Kotze family,” Dlamini explained.
The Alberton Record also asked the city about the alleged corruption at grave sites when individuals bribe security officers to enter the cemetery at night.
Dlamini said the city would investigate the matter and give feedback in due course.
“The duty of security officers at the grave sites is to ensure everything is taken care of, from ensuring that the users are protected during visiting hours to ensuring nothing gets vandalised. We will make sure, as the city, that our residents’ deceased loved ones’ needs are taken care of at the grave sites,” Dlamini said.
He said city officials regularly monitor if grave sites are appealing.
However, after the number of complaints the Alberton Record received about the state of grave sites in Alberton, residents beg to differ with Dlamini’s statement.
