Durban - Family members burying loved ones in eThekwini are in for a shock - available grave sites are expected to run out within weeks.
The admission this week by the eThekwini Municipality, despite knowing for years this day was coming, has seen officials scrambling to acquire two privately-owned properties, including agricultural land in Verulam that would accommodate a further 20000 bodies.
But nothing has been finalised yet and the city claims it cannot afford to buy all the land it has identified. And, even if these land sales do go ahead, the earliest a new cemetery would be ready is at the beginning of 2019.
“This issue is out of our control,” the municipality’s cemeteries boss Thembinkosi Ngcobo said, explaining that available grave sites were expected to run out by the end of the year.
Come next year, he said, mourners, regardless of their religious beliefs, would have no choice but to explore cremation.
The municipality, widely criticised for its disastrous management of the Mobeni Heights Crematorium, where furnaces have been on the blink for years, is also looking to open a new crematorium in Phoenix.
But this time it wants the private sector to build and run it, a move that has some stakeholders and residents up in arms (more details on page 3).
Ngcobo said that because of the grave space shortage, cemeteries were now putting a limit on the number of burials that can be done in a week.
“We currently have 65 cemeteries and altogether we have 550000 grave sites. In these grave sites we have close to 1.8million remains, with some graves housing up to four bodies each.”
He said recycling and reusing graves had become a hot issue in 2015 after the Commission for Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Cultural, Religious and Linguistic Communities threatened to take them to court over the issue.
The commission had also presented a report on the reuse of graves by local government authorities following continued complaints received across municipalities about the removal of remains of their loved ones without their consent because of unpaid fees.
Commission chairperson Thoko Mkhwanazi-Xaluva said they had warned the municipality four years ago that a crisis was looming.
“Back then we were told that they were in the process of purchasing land but nothing has been done. The municipality is delaying the process because their agenda is to push people to cremate.”
While the municipality had hosted public meetings years ago to discuss the best use of limited grave space, including highly controversial ways such as burying people standing up and crushing skeletal remains, nothing had come of this.
Now, with graveyards almost at capacity, the city has set its sights on new land north and south of Durban.
Ngcobo said there was a plan to purchase 10 hectares of land in Verulam and property in KwaVulamehlo in the South Coast from private owners.
“We have identified 50 hectares of land which is currently being used for agriculture in Verulam but for now, due to funding, we are negotiating with the owner to purchase 10 hectares,” he said. “The land will be able to accommodate at least 20000 bodies. We are also looking at purchasing burial space in rural KwaVulamehlo, but nothing has been finalised as yet.”
Ngcobo said if the Verulam purchase went through, construction of the cemetery was expected to begin early next year and hopefully be completed at the beginning of 2019.
The proposed new cemeteries, he said, would not be for local communities only, but serve as regional facilities and open to families from across the province.
The KwaZulu-Natal Funeral Directors Association said the municipality had known about its graves problem since 2010.
“The municipality had purchased land in eMkhomazi (Umkomaas) and in Sparks Estate for use as cemeteries but they were not being used,” said association head Logan Chetty. “We need the right people (addressing this) as the current people in charge are treating it as a joke and are not bothered about the grief-stricken families that are affected.”
Ngcobo confirmed these two sites were considered for purchase, but said issues that arose had scuppered the deals.
An oThongathi (Tongaat) funeral parlour owner, who requested anonymity, said cemeteries were limiting the number of burials a week.
“This entire situation is totally unfair, especially on the families. How can the municipality approve land for housing developments when we have a crisis on our shoulders? In Tongaat I am one of 13 funeral parlours that operate in the area and we are all fighting for burial space.
“We have Indian families of the Christian faith that could not bury their loved ones because of the restrictions and this is an infringement on their religious rights. African families do not cremate and they now have to travel long distances to rural villages to do burials.”
Pastor Ronnie Naidoo of the Apostolic Faith Mission said many Christians preferred burials to cremations because of the teachings in the Bible.
“We are not against cremations and nowadays some Christians prefer this to burials, but we still have a large number of people who want to be buried but are turned down because of the space issue.”
Naidoo said it was unfair for people of the Christian faith to compromise their belief because the eThekwini Municipality did not do enough to ensure this issue was resolved. “The municipality needs to respect the religious rights of people.”