Residents throw stones at funeral procession

For Strubenvale resident Hendrik Grobler it was a barbaric act.

“Why the residents stopped the hearse and the other vehicles and threw stones at our vehicles I don’t know, but they had no right to be disrespectful,” he says.

It was the funeral of Grobler’s wife, Annetjie Grobler, and the procession was on its way to the Sundra Cemetery for the burial.

The road was blocked off with large cement blocks and rocks to prevent traffic from using that road.

“The hearse and other vehicles were stopped by the angry residents and we had to turn around and take another route to Sundra,” he says.

Grobler blames the municipality for not removing all the cement blocks, stones and rocks from the informal settlement as it is with these stones that the funeral procession vehicles were damaged.

Some of the mourners couldn’t attend the burial as they had no idea how to get to the cemetery.

“It is sad that these mourners will remember this evil image and take it back overseas, which in return will give our town and the country a bad name,” he says.

Springs police spokesman, Capt Johannes Ramphora, says a vehicle had to swerve for an oncoming vehicle driving in the wrong lane and ended up smashing a resident’s fence.

“The vehicle landed on the premises of a resident and the commotion soon drew a few angry residents,” he says.

Angry residents interfered with police work and the police had to use tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse the crowd.

The problem has been solved, but Ramphora condemns the behaviour of the residents towards Grobler and the funeral procession.

“People need to respect mourners and the rest of the community,” says Ramphora.

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