During the December vacation period, Panorama Cemetery was allowed to go to wrack and ruin, with the grass growing as high as some tombstones and rubbish bins left to overflow.
Brenda and Caryl Pienaar, who visited the graves of their loved ones on Christmas Day, were ‘disgusted’ by what they encountered upon their arrival at the cemetery.
“My family and I went to lay flowers at the graves of my late father and sister on Christmas Day and were met with the most horrific sight of neglect and disrespect for the dead,” said Caryl upon expressing her disgust to the Northsider.
“I am really disgusted that the powers that be have allowed Panorama Cemetery to get into such a state.”
The state that they had found their loved ones’ graves in was so bad that they took it upon themselves to clean up the site.
“We pulled out some of the weeds and long grass to try and make it look a bit more respectable,” Brenda said.
Caryl also said that her father and sister had originally been buried at New Roodepoort Cemetery in Durban Deep, but their bodies were exhumed and moved to Panorama when the Roodepoort Cemetery itself ‘started taking a turn for the worse’.
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Caryl and Brenda continuously visit their loved ones’ graves, and say this is not the first time the cemetery has been in a poor state.
“We often visit on special days and have noticed on three or four occasions that the upkeep is not what it should be, but have never seen it looking this bad,” Caryl said.
Another concerned reader, Sandy Naudé, also expressed her disgust at what she saw.
Sandy was meeting with Joburg Water staff for an issue regarding a pipe which they could only access through the cemetery when she noticed the neglect.
“Going through the cemetery, I noted with shock and disgust that the grass is extremely long, growing over the curbs and covering the paved roadways. The benches around the gravesites cannot be used because the grass is so long it is growing up through the slats of the benches, and some of the gravestones can hardly be seen because of the long grass and weeds,” Sandy stated.
“All the dustbins dotted around the cemetery are full to overflowing, with rubbish lying all over the ground around them.”
Joburg City Parks’ Public Relations Officer, Jenny Moodley, confirmed that the Department is in the process of cleaning up the cemetery.
“There are teams on site that are currently cutting and clearing Panorama Cemetery. Work will continue until fully resolved.”
Moodley also thanked residents for their patience.
“Johannesburg City Parks and Zoo would like to thank residents for their patience and would like to appeal to families to please maintain the gravesites of loved ones buried in Panorama Cemetery.”
At the time of going to press, the clean-up was still in its early stages.
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