Hope for Hardwick Street cemetery
Is there hope for the sake of the dead? By the next budget cycle, municipal officials have hinted at, the answer to this important question will be clear.
The unknown soldiers stand guard at the Hardwick Street cemetery.
Row upon row, those who gave up their lives in conflicts of yesteryear maintain their silent vigil, as their resting place is disgraced by urban decay.
Is there hope for the sake of the dead?
By the next budget cycle, municipal officials have hinted at, the answer to this important question will be clear.
“We hope to address these issues by the next budget. We need to fence the cemetery or there is no solution,” explained head of Parks, Recreation and Cleansing, Vish Govender.
His response was made after a municipal team tackled mounting filth at the Hardwick Street cemetery last week, in the wake of more complaints from residents.
Mr Govender said use of the cemetery as a thoroughfare remained a concern.
This was echoed by residents who live nearby, witnesses to abhorrent behaviour by vagrants and pedestrians using the cemetery as a shortcut.
“Over the years, I watched people make fires and break the gravestones. At 3am one time, I went out and chased away a man breaking metal off the grave perimeters.”
The resident added he had witnessed people washing in full view of the road, and relieving themselves among headstones.
“They do what they like. They don’t care at all.”
