The City of Tshwane has begun maintenance operations for cemeteries as part of urban management plan to provide service delivery for residents.
According to the metro, the clean-up of cemeteries followed concerns about the safety of residents and criminal activities happening in the cemeteries.
On Friday, the metro visited and maintained the Atteridgeville cemetery and another in Pretoria East to cut grass, patch potholes, marking roads, fix streetlights and clearing dumping sites.
The maintenance was undertaken by the urban management teams across various parts of Tshwane after residents raised their concerns over poorly maintained grave sites in the past months.
Mayor Cilliers Brink said over the past week he has been on the ground supporting urban management teams, as they work to restore basic services and improve the face and look of the city.
Residents whose relatives were buried in cemetery in Atteridgeville are unhappy about the state of the facility.
They complained about the neglect, which they blamed on the Tshwane metro
Atteridgeville resident Philliys Ngwenya said she was unhappy about the state of the cemetery because it was where her mother was buried.
“Every time we would visit the cemetery with my family we would get lost trying to find the grave because of the grass that was covering our mother’s grave,” she said.
She added that they were concerned about the safety as the facility was plagued by criminals.
She further said she is thankful that the metro is taking it upon themselves to clean up the cemetery as it will enable them to find their mother’s grave.
Another resident from Atteridgeville Nomasonto Mazibuko also expressed her disappointment over criminal activities in the cemetery.
“This cemetery has put the lives of residents at risk as they are mugged by criminals who hide at the cemetery.”
Finance MMC Jacqui Uys said the maintenance project came after the mayor, Cilliers Brink, was approached by residents who were concerned about the poor state of cemeteries.
Uys said in responding to the concerns, the executive mayor undertook a drive to maintain the cemeteries as part of a urban management plan, which seeks to accelerate service delivery on major routes in Tshwane.
She said the drive would look at maintaining public spaces such as parks, key buildings and cemeteries.
She added that Tshwane did not have the money to maintain all the areas in the metropolis.
“It has been clear that as the City of Tshwane we do not have the cash we would like to have to be able to deliver all services, however with the money we do have, we will focus on specific services and routes mainly used by our residents, “ she said.
Pretoria News
Lesego Montso