DURBAN - FAMILY members, whose loved ones are buried at the Azalea Cemetery in Pietermaritzburg, are worried that the invasion of the cemetery land by squatters, who have subsequently built houses on the graves, will lead to the destruction of the graveyard.
The family members said the land invasion was an insult to their loved ones buried there.
It is understood that people from the surrounding areas such as Imbali, Ashdown and Willowfontein have been burying their loved ones in the cemetery over the past 30 years.
Bernard Mtolo, who said he buried his wife in the cemetery, was shocked to discover that a house had been built next to her grave.
“That house is surrounded by the graves and it is a disturbing sight. I have no doubt that they had to move some graves for that house to be built because it is built in the middle of the grave site,” he said.
He labelled the act of building houses in a cemetery “shocking and inhumane”, adding that the culprits were not from the local community.
“How can people do this? I feel sorry for people who come to the cemetery to visit their loved ones, only to find that there is a house in their resting place,” said Mtolo.
He said at least one house had been demolished but people still continued to build structures. He urged the municipality to intervene.
Sikhanyiso Zuma, whose relatives are buried at the cemetery, expressed disappointment, saying that the community might wake up one day and find all their graves gone.
“The grave of my father is now next to someone else’s house. What they do is remove graves that do not have tombstones and they build their houses. The safe graves for now are the ones with tombstones,” he said.
He alleged that there were people who were selling land illegally, adding that they had gone to report this to the relevant departments but nothing had been done to remove the land invaders.
“What is happening there is a disgrace because some people have graves of people they do not know under their homes.
“What I would also like to know is how are these people able to sleep at night, knowing very well that they have built on top of graves?” asked Zuma.
He said graves are sacred, with many people visiting their loved ones when they do rituals.
“How are people going to be able to honour their loved ones and do rituals if there are houses on top of the graves? This is really sad,” he said.
Former ward councillor Thabiso Molefe said the land invasion has been happening for some time.
“The land belongs to the municipality. What is even more shocking is that land invaders want to build their homes in the graveyards,” he said.
Msunduzi municipal spokesperson Thobeka Mafumbatha said they were aware of the matter and were trying to obtain a court order to remove the invaders.
“We are aware of the matter and the anti-land invasion unit has demolished (invaders’ homes) and we will continue to do so. We appeal to our communities to refrain from grabbing land illegally as it is a crime,” she said.
THE MERCURY