Councillor calls for maintenance at cemetery
Councillor Mmabatho Tembe said she had only recently been told there hadn't been a maintenance plan at the cemetery for the past three years.
FOLLOWING the call for more maintenance at Stellawood Cemetery in 2018, ward 33 councillor Mmabatho Tembe said she had recently discovered no maintenance plan had been in place at the cemetery for the past three years.
Commenting on the matter, Tembe said this emerged after she requested part of the wall of the cemetery in Fenniscowles Road be repaired after she had noted it had fallen down.
“Last year there was a problem with the wall as there had been numerous storms and the wall was shaky. A section of the wall which collapsed after the October 2017 floods was fixed, however I noted a further section in Fenniscowles Road had fallen down, and had sent a query to the head of the cemetery management last year,” she said.
At the time, Tembe said she was told there had been a quote for R200 000 to have the wall repaired, and she followed up on this at the beginning of 2020.
ALSO READ: Call for more maintenance at Stellawood Cemetery
“I was told they were waiting on the insurance department, however I recently found out that the maintenance plan could not be found, and this was holding up the insurance payout. I am shocked that this situation has taken so long, only to be told that there hasn’t been a maintenance plan in place for years,” she said.
Tembe said the wall needed urgent attention, and trees which were causing the fence to lean needed to be cut back, something which was last done two years ago.
She said it was an indignity for people resting in the cemetery, and that it wasn’t good enough that no one could give a reason why there was no plan.
“The neglect of cemeteries in Durban, especially one as well-known as Stellawood, is terrible. I plan now to escalate this once again to the head of Parks, Recreation and Culture as well as the head of the cemeteries department to ask for this to be escalated swiftly for resolution,” she said.
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