“Despite ongoing interventions by the neighbourhood watch and myself as councillor, the parks department, headed by ward 35 branch chairman, Thembinkosi Ngcobo, has done virtually nothing to improve or secure the cemetery,” said De Boer.
Spokesman for Greenwood Park Police, Lt Elvis Naidoo, said handguns were fired during a burial, as part of a ritual, on Saturday between 1pm and 3pm.
“Police were called and two people were arrested. One for being in possession of an unlicenced firearm, and the other for being drunk in public,” Naidoo said.
There was no damage to property and no-one was hurt.
De Boer said repeated requests for the cemetery’s perimeter fence to be repaired, security to be beefed up and a higher level of maintenance have all fallen on deaf ears.
“After a recent email to several department managers, the parks department saw fit to plug a massive boundary fence hole by simply bulldozing sand into the gap.
“Barbed wire fences meant to keep vagrants out have not been repaired by the council in years, while tree branched continue to grow through the perimeter fence allowing criminals access and easy escape routes. All this while the department head finds time to run around conducting ANC business instead of whipping his managers into shape,” De Boer said.
The Redhill Cemetery is the city’s second largest cemetery, and is important in that it is not yet full to capacity. But this additional capacity has in recent years led to irresponsible members of the public drinking and discharging weapons in the cemetery.
This culminated in another shooting incident on Saturday in which weapons were allegedly discharged on the grounds.
Reports of vagrants sleeping in the cemetery, coupled with criminals using it as an escape route and lovers using it as a venue to fornicate are common.
“I would challenge the parks department to show what measures they have put in place to secure not only the cemetery, but also the residents who stay nearby.
“Let Mr Ngcobo show how much capital budget has been spent on repairing fences, keeping out criminals or upgrading any infrastructure,” De Boer said.
