City responds to cry about filthy gravesite
ALEXANDRA – A Re Sebetseng clean-up descends on neglected Old Alex Cemetery.
The Johannesburg City Council extended its monthly A Re Sebetseng clean-up campaign on 22 June to the Old Alexandra Cemetery.
The Alex News recently reported on the condition of the area along Florence Mophosho Avenue which has seen illegal dumping, desecration of some graves and general neglect in parts of it, in the article even the graves are unsafe from land invaders [Week ending 7 June]. The speaker Vasco Da Gama, MMCs, councillors and residents gathered for the exercise which, according to the speaker, is part of a broad plan to improve the facility. In a statement Da Gama said the other focal areas are: Attending to the illegal occupation of the caretaker’s quarters, documenting the over 1 500 second burials, repairing the broken fence which is continuously damaged for access as a thoroughfare, stopping groundwater from seeping through at the bottom end of the cemetery and dealing with the illegal connections from the Eskom Substation at the cemetery.
Da Gama, a former Alex resident, commended the public for requesting the clean-up, “A cemetery is a special place where our beloved predecessors rest. “In African culture, it is taboo to allow filth to infiltrate our ancestors’ resting place. It is a show of respect to visit and clean around the graves.”
Commending the participants, MMC for Community Development Councillor Nonhlanhla Sifumba urged residents, particularly of Setswetla informal settlement bordering the area, to stop illegal dumping as this affects the cleanliness and sanctity of the cemetery. “Residents are reminded to be considerate of the graves and not to vandalise the fence.
“I commend residents who joined the clean-up and encourage them to continue keeping the cemetery and surrounds clean.”
She added that the speaker’s office was requested to organise a stakeholders’ meeting to implement sustainable solutions for the cemetery and to erect a memorial in the cemetery precinct for those killed in the township and buried at the site after the death of learners in Soweto on 16 June.
One of those who raised alarm on the condition of the grave site, philanthropist Linda Twala, commended the exercise saying that this should be the beginning of the restoration of respect to the dead. “We are who we are because of those buried at the cemetery. We should honour them by stopping those who foul the place and use it as a base for criminality, sexual escapades and as a toilet.”
He also urged the City to complete the planned work and the local leaders to encourage all residents to participate beyond political party affiliation.
DA’s proportional representative, councillor Shadrack Mkhonto, called for a dedicated maintenance team for graves in Alex like in other cemeteries. “It’s a long outstanding complaint about the restoration of the dignity to our deceased relatives. The Region E office will be requested to allocate adequate funds for this purpose.”
Mkhonto urged councillors and leaders in the township who all have relatives buried at the site to act as one in discouraging dumping. “We should lead this jointly through education awareness campaigns together with by law enforcement by the Joburg Metro Police Department.”
Da Gama committed to return on 18 July to check the progress on the clearing of the dumpsite found by the City’s entities.
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