Cora Dixon (66) explains she visited her husband’s grave that morning, as she does every day before going to work.
“My husband, Johan ‘Tossie’ Dixon, was buried here a month ago after he died from gangrene and diabetes, and I visit his grave every day,” she says.
Dixon and her two friends, Christa Holtshauzen (76) and Linda Meyer (54), were on their way out of the cemetery when Dixon unsuspectingly drove into a massive open manhole, concealed by leaves.
The three women were injured in the accident and had to call for help to remove the car from the hole.
Dixon hit her head against the windscreen, cracking the glass, while Holtshauzen hurt her shoulder, and Meyer injured her knee.
The impact also caused the car’s front tyre to burst and dented the wheel’s rim.
“The hole was completely covered with leaves, you couldn’t even see there was a hole,” she says.
An emotional Dixon says that she only wanted to visit her husband and never expected something like this to happen in a graveyard.
She needed sugar water to help calm her down.
Dixon pointed out three more large open manholes nestled among the tombstones.
She feels this is also dangerous, as people could easily fall into them while walking around the cemetery.
Spokesman for Ekurhuleni Themba Gadebe says open manholes are the result of vandalism and theft.
“In efforts to curb the theft of manhole covers, the metro is currently replacing the old manhole covers with plastic ones that have no monetary value,” he says.
He adds that the complainant whose vehicle was damaged is encouraged to visit the Geduld Cemetery office and request a claim form to claim from the metro’s insurance.
“The city’s roads department has placed an order to replace the missing manhole at Geduld Cemetery and red tape will be placed near the hole to warn the public and prevent damage to other vehicles.”
