Mohlakeng residents who have volunteered to clean up the graveyard are appealing to the public, the Rand West City Local Municipality (RWCLM) and businesses for donations to do the work efficiently to ensure that the facility is well maintained.
Residents told the Herald that they’ve decided to clean up the cemetery after realising that it had been neglected; and they couldn’t sit and do nothing while many of their loved ones rested in an unkempt place.
Palesa Ramahloko, one of the residents and coordinator of the clean-up said at least 15 volunteers decided to roll up their sleeves after seeing their cemetery continuously deteriorating with no one taking action.
We chose to clean it because you’ll see overgrown weeds that are shoulder-high. This is the place where many of our ancestors are resting, so we had to intervene after seeing that nothing was changing,” Ramahloko said.
While they appreciated everyone who had volunteered to help, they’re pleading with the community to further provide equipment like grass-cutting machines, gardens tools such as spades, rakes, hoes and forks, and possibly more hands on deck for the clean-up project.
“We’re asking those who can to provide petrol to run the equipment, even refreshments for our volunteers who have given up their time because they care about where their loved are resting,” Ramahloko said.
