WATCH: Grave mix-up at Avalon
A family recently discovered a stranger buried on top of the grave in which their relative is buried and claimed they have been given the run-around by officials at Avalon Cemetery in Soweto.
Uncle Bennet Mathebula (L), Aunt Slyvia Sithole, mum Thabitha Ramolotja and grandchild Amanda Sehoole at Avlon Cemetry in Johannesburg, 17 August 2020, after they found the grave where their relative is buried someone else buried on top. Picture; Nigel Sibanda
City Parks spokesperson Jenny Moodley said it was investigating the matter with the cemetery, and feedback would be provided once concluded. Amanda Sehoole, granddaughter of Bobo Jefferson Mathebula, who died in 2013, said she would not rest until the matter was corrected.
“In 1992 my parents bought two graves, for my grandmother and grandfather. In the same year, we buried my grandmother.
“When my grandfather died, we were allocated a different grave because the one we bought next to my grandmother was sold to someone else.
“On 31 July, my uncle, who practices ancestral worship, visited my grandfather’s grave because it was requested by the ancestors. When he arrived, he found fresh flowers with a tombstone which did not have my grandfather’s name on it. The burial date on the tombstone is 22 July, 2020.”
Sehoole said she had received bad treatment at the cemetery. The cemetery was blaming the undertakers, which she did not believe because it had allocated plot numbers to the undertakers.
“The cemetery promised to dig up the grave once they have spoken to the family whose relative is buried on top of my grandfather, leaving my grandfather at the grave next to my grandmother. This whole mix-up is unprofessional.
– sonrin@citizen.co.za
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