Durban - In a bid to address the shortage of burial space in eThekwini Municipality, the city said it would make 8000 new graves available.
According to the municipality, Durban has about 65 cemeteries and 97% of them are at capacity.
Earlier this year, it was reported that the city would need about 15000 graves by September, the same month the number of Covid-19 infections and deaths were expected to peak in South Africa.
Head of Parks, Recreation and Culture Thembinkosi Ngcobo said the municipality had resolved to re-landscape Loon Road Cemetery.
According to Ngcobo, this process meant they would exhume human remains in all grave sites that were 10 years and older, and rebury them at a smaller cemetery where they would remain permanently.
Through this method, he said, families who wanted to visit the gravesides of their loved ones would be able to do so.
He said this action was necessitated by the high demand for burial space. Ngcobo said to meet this need, the city was developing a 30-year plan for the provision of burial services.
“Land has been identified specifically for burial space, specialists are busy with environmental impact assessments and geo-technical assessments to ascertain if the land is suitable for graveyards.”
During the second Pan African Cemeteries and Crematoria Conference held in Durban, in September last year, city deputy mayor Belinda Scott warned that the shortage of graveyards in Durban meant that by 2020 there would be no space available to bury people. At the time, she said the city was conducting about 1000 burials a month.
Muzi Hlengwa, president of the National Funeral Practitioners Association of South Africa (Nafupa), accused the municipality of dragging its feet in providing land for burial space.
Hlengwa said that several areas had been identified within the municipality that could be used for grave sites.
“There is a space just after Inanda, near Verulam - which is about 840 hectares - that they said they would buy, but they didn’t. There are also sites in Hammarsdale and Inchanga. Why they don’t use those areas?” he asked.
He said that, at some point, they were told by the municipality that they should encourage people to use cremation to decrease the use of their limited space.
“Some of their crematoriums don’t work, that is what they should be addressing. Due to some religious and cultural beliefs, some people are against cremation. Other families cannot afford it,” said Hlengwa.
Hlengwa said they had come up with their own solution to this problem of unavailability of grave sites. He said next year, the organisation would occupy vacant land within the city and use it for burials.
“Our solution is that where we see vacant land, we will bury our loved ones. We are going to forcefully use the grave sites,” he added.
Meanwhile, the city has called on undertakers to register on the municipal database to address the increase of bogus undertakers.
According to Ngcobo, they had witnessed a growing number of illegal undertakers and stone masons dealing in headstones and plaques.
“The tough economic climate has given rise to bogus undertakers and masons. We have had to find ways of regulating this industry. By encouraging these businesses to register, this will allow them to be on a database and to be part of empowerment programmes that will assist them to do business legally,” he said.
Registration would commence from tomorrow, September 1 to 30.
The Mercury