THE Ethekwini Municipality will be writing to the Commission for the Promotion and Protection of Cultural, Religious and Linguistic Communities to delay the decision to stop grave recycling.
Meanwhile, the municipality had been tasked with creating alternate methods to grave recycling. James Nxumalo, the Mayor of eThekwini, and other city officials appeared before the Commission last week after concerns were raised about the city’s policy of reusing graves and some of the challenges being faced were highlighted. This included the severe shortage of gravesites, as there are currently 48 closed cemeteries and only 17 open cemeteries. These cemeteries are expected to be full in two years’ time.
Nxumalo said while the Commission was concerned about the reusing of graves by different families, the process could not be phased out overnight. During the reusing of the grave, the remains were buried deeper and covered in soil, with another coffin put on top. Families opposed to this have an option to pay a lease fee every 10 years.
“We will write a letter to the Commission asking them to give us time to deal with the matter. This letter will be part of the opportunity the Commission has given us as the city to respond.
“They indicated that they don’t have a problem where someone from the same family reuses graves. We need to go back and review our policy and how we can mitigate these processes. We have to look into this issue to ensure we don’t find ourselves in a difficult position,” he said.
City manager,Sibusiso Sithole, said acquiring space was not easy as it competed with other needs, such as housing. “That the land is suitable for burial also needs to be taken into consideration. The recycling of graves in one family is a short-term solution. Long-term we need other solutions to meet the city’s needs,” Sithole said.
According to Cllr Shontel Asbury, DA whip under the Community and Emergency Services portfolio, grave recycling and the associated issues have been the subject of debate and at least two workshops in the past five years. “It is concerning that we are now scrambling to find a solution as legal action looms.
“As much as the DA believes that alternate burial techniques must be emphasised, we must allow people to have freedom to practice their cultural traditions,” she concluded.
