Gravesite vandalism brings grief to families
GRAVESITE vandalism – which includes theft, the homeless using them for sleeping quarters and litterbugs using them for dumping sites – is forcing devastated Cape Town families to call for help from the City.
Oscar Jasman from Mitchells Plain went to visit his mother Adelaide Plato’s grave at the Klip Cemetery in Ottery over the weekend and made the horrifying discovery that her grave had been vandalised.
Jasman said on approaching the grave, with his vehicle still in motion, he looked at it to his left.
“I checked and rechecked, thinking we must be at the wrong row of graves as I noticed the grave was damaged,” he said.
The Vanyaza family from Khayelitsha also found out that their loved ones’ graves had been destroyed and covered in trash. Zuko Vanyaza said the government needs to fence the cemetery and employ security guards. He said it looked like there was ongoing vandalism and that only thing that could help was to fence them and have people looking after them.
Khayelitsha Development Forum chairperson Ndithini Tyhido condemned the destruction of Khayelitsha’s graveyard by criminals and called on the entire community to stand up and stop the scourge.
Tyhido said people’s graves were sacred and deserved respect.
Community services and health Mayco member Zahid Badroodien said that in recent months there had been an increase in theft and vandalism at their cemeteries. Badroodien said fences, flowers, bricks and grave memorialisation have all been affected.
“We ensure that security is present, especially at high-risk cemeteries. Some facilities have dogs as an extra measure too. We are also looking to establish community partnerships with neighbourhood watches (NHW) to help boost a security presence at those and other facilities that are equally vulnerable.”