Pretoria - Another family from Eersterust has called on the City of Tshwane to conduct an audit of gravesites in the community after their grave was disturbed and another body was allegedly buried on top of their relative.
Everlyn Verveen, 70, said she was looking for answers and accountability from the City after she had to run around for weeks trying to find out why her husband’s grave was in such a dishevelled manner.
She said upon inquiring with officials at the cemetery offices they informed her that it was left like that after their family member by the surname of Nel was buried on top.
Verveen said they informed the officials that they were not related to, or even knew, of the Nel family, but officials could not explain anything.
Despite this, she said they requested the information of the other family but were refused it and were only told of the funeral home that conducted the proceedings.
After having to travel back and forth between the undertaker and Tshwane’s Mamelodi municipal offices the family was offered the opportunity to exhume the grave.
“They claimed they would open the grave in my presence but by the time I got there at 8am it had already been opened in my absence which I was not happy about.”
“My issue is that I still have a lot of questions and don’t know when or why that person was buried on top of my husband or when it was exhumed and what was taken out, so everything remains a question mark for us.”
“They disposed of my property without my knowledge and have failed me and abused me emotionally having to run around looking for answers for their mix-up.”
Lesley Wapad, the son-in-law, said they were dismayed that despite their efforts to seal off the grave to ward off criminals who prey on cemeteries, it was the City who was now letting them down and invading their sacred space.
“Emotionally it’s very draining for my grandmother to have to run around to sort this out at her age because she has a thyroid problem and shakes. They disturbed the grave and threw things around without even fixing it and if we had not gone by after the funeral we may have never found out about this.”
Pretoria News