Final resting places destroyed

Imagine finding your loved one’s last resting place in a state of utter devastation.

It is not simply a miserable thought in the back of Lindhaven resident Andries Joubert’s mind, but a reality, as he visited the closed Roodepoort Cemetery last week to find the tombstones of his parents’ graves vandalised. It could easily be said that around 80 per cent of the cemetery’s graves were victim to vandals in the past few weeks.

The majority of the tombstones have been kicked or pulled to the ground, many of them broken from the impact. Vases have been ripped out of the holders and shattered and the broken slabs of granite and stone are now literally resting in pieces. Joubert toured the cemetery with the Record earlier this week.

Joubert, a landscaper by trade, regularly gardens at cemeteries like Panorama, where his son is buried, and was shocked to find the state of the Roodepoort Cemetery.

He told the Record he suspects it was a group of vandals and not an individual or two, certainly not the few vagrants he regularly finds sleeping under trees on the property. Speaking to one of the vagrants, he was told vandals were in the cemetery in the beginning of November.

“My parents were buried here around 42 years ago and it weighs on me that their final resting place is a shambles,” he said.

Joubert is going to try to mount his parents’ tombstones once more, as the slabs were not broken but just removed, but says most of the gravestones seem irreparable.

Besides the physical gravesite being vandalised the property looks like it had been abandoned by the municipality. Pathways are overgrown with ivy, weeds are visible between the long grass and panels are missing from the precast walls, making the property easily accessible to any member of the public. The main gateway is not guarded by a single living soul.

The Cemeteries and Crematoria Bylaws in Chapter 5 and 9 deal with care of graves and prohibited acts and penalties for those acts. In Chapter 5, the council acknowledges its responsibility for keeping cemeteries clean, but in 23 (6) states “the council is not liable for any loss or damage to any object on a grave unless such loss or damage is a result of the negligence of any employee of the council.”

In Chapter 9 subsection 42 it clearly states no person may enter or leave the cemetery except by the gateway provided. No person may also interfere with any fountain, statue, monument, equipment, fence or grave and a person may not damage, deface or remove any memorial work, grave, building, fence or fixtures.

The Record contacted City Parks and spokesperson Jenny Moodley mentioned the cemetery is situated on a high water table, which might have caused some of the damage. She has asked for a detailed inquiry in order for them to launch an investigation.

“However, residents should be reminded that the onus remains with the family of the deceased to keep their graves and tombstones in order,” she said.

The Record will follow up with Moodley’s response to its query.

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