Ekurhuleni running out of burial space

Cemeteries in the City of Ekurhuleni are approaching full capacity for new burials, with just 30% of the vacant burial space remaining across the municipality.

Nhlanhla Cebekhulu, spokesperson for the City of Ekurhuleni, said the Phumlani Cemetery in Etwatwa was closed on 29 February 2020 due to non-availability of burial space.

“Nevertheless, the city has reserved a small portion of land at the Phumlani Cemetery for the burial of indigents and paupers only,” said Cebekhulu.

He said residents in the Etwatwa could use nearby cemeteries such as Lala Ngoxolo in Crystal Park and Petersfield in Springs.

Cebekhulu encouraged residents to consider other options to save burial space, such as a second and third interments. This means burying two or three people in one grave which is permitted by the city’s Cemetery and Crematorium by-laws.

“The by-laws make provision for multiple interments in one grave on condition that an application has been made to the cemetery officer and written permission has been granted,” he said.

Families who have reserved graves can still bury in those spaces only if they can produce proof of reserved graves to cemetery officials.

Cebekhulu said the municipality had been giving an alert on burial space shortage from as far back as 2014.

His counterpart Jenny Moodley, the spokesperson for the Johannesburg City Parks and Zoo, said there was adequate burial space for the next 50 years of at least 800,000 new grave sites in the city of Johannesburg.

“We are however, as part of the city’s ongoing engagements with residents and funeral directors, encouraging communities to consider burying loved ones in the same grave as deceased family members and to consider cremations as a dignified alternative solution to traditional burials,” said Moodley.

She said there were 32 cemeteries in the city and 28 had reached full capacity for primary burials.

Active cemeteries currently in use include the Westpark Cemetery, Olifantsvlei Cemetery in the far south with over 700,000 new burial spaces, Waterval in Midrand and the Diepsloot Memorial Park.

“Active cemetery spaces are well-maintained and this is underpinned by community-based arrangements such as with the Central Islamic Trust and the Jewish community who assist in managing sections within a cemetery,” she said.

Moodley said residents were reminded that the onus to maintain and care for the grave site itself, was for the family and is guided by the cemetery by-laws of the city.

This includes restoration of memorials and maintenance of the grave.

She said Joburg City Parks was also exploring ways to use unused space in existing dormant cemeteries, particularly where the land was not conducive to below-ground burials.

“This will include above-ground burials and the use of mausoleums,” she said.

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