Other options are available at the Westpark Cemetery
WATERVAL – As long as the family is in support of it and it is dignified, a person can opt to be buried in any way they wish.
With cemeteries filling up across the City of Johannesburg, alternative burial methods are being considered by more and more families.
The custodians of the City’s cemeteries, Johannesburg City Parks and Zoo (JCPZ) are beginning to encourage alternative options to traditional burials.
From cremation to family graves, there are alternative options that could potentially be more environmentally friendly and sustainable.
Burials have generally declined across the city. Life expectancy has increased, meaning the mortality rate decreased.
The burial rate used to be 27 000 a year and it has now decreased to 17 000.
City Parks’ spokesperson, Jenny Moodley said this partly indicates better quality of life, but also possibility indicates that people opt to be buried elsewhere, often in their hometowns.
But despite this, cemeteries still need to be opened. This is why City Parks is encouraging alternative methods and asking residents to start reconsidering how they interact with cemeteries and burial spaces.
Moodley said as long as the family is in support of it and it is dignified, a person can opt to be buried in any way they wish.
Firstly, cremation is often considered an alternative to a burial. Moodley said that City Parks understands that in some circles, there are sensitivities to cremation.
Families can cremate their loved one’s body and decide to erect a plaque among others on a memorial wall in the cemetery. At the moment, more memorial walls are being built because of the growing interest in this method.
“We are trying to take away the stigma around cremation,” she said.
Another option for families is to be buried in the same grave. This grave, Moodley said, can act as a single shrine for the family.
The same idea can be applied in a mausoleum, which is an above-ground tomb. Some families also consider a grave reduction, which essentially, after many years, reduces the remains of a loved one within a grave.
City Parks also currently plants a tree for each grave. But taking the concept even further, some people opt to have their ashes fertilise a tree.
“This is a great idea. Then, we can create pockets of forests instead of dormant graves.”
