No answer on why it’s neglected

LUJIZA cemetery in Duncan Village is so poorly maintained that tombstones cannot be seen in the long grass.

It is so bad that one family from Duncan Village has struggled for the past two years to find their mother’s grave.

Zanele Petu, who lost her mother in 1975, says she cannot find her grave due to the cemetery’s overgrown state.

Buffalo City Metropolitan (BCM) spokesman Sibusiso Cindi said officials with answers about the neglected cemetery were “all on leave, and those who are acting have no idea what could have caused this as the directorate has no manager.

“Unfortunately the person who manages the unit is on leave and naturally there would be someone acting in the position but all those currently minding the unit are unaware of what is going on,” Cindi said.

Saturday Dispatch visited the cemetery on Thursday.

Pathways have vanished under a welter of weeds, the grass is at least half-a-metre long and plants and trees are overgrown.

“When I lost my mother I was only 15. There was no one who could have taken care of the documentation regarding the exact position of my mother’s grave.”

The 56-year-old said it took about a year to get the grave number out of BCM and now it is taking longer to locate the grave .

“After we got the grave number we thought were a step closer to finding the actual grave. The first day we visited the site, we struggled to even see the order in which graves were organised.

“To us, knowing where our mother is buried is important and we had wished to make a tombstone for her,” said Petu.

The few gravestones that are visible are wrapped in undergrowth and gnarly roots.

There is no access to most of the graves, which are engulfed by the short Cornelian tree.

Lujiza was built in the early 1900s to ease overcrowding at inner-city graveyards.

“It is amazing the way in which the municipality has totally ignored this graveyard especially being a metro that serves a majority of black people who hold so much regard for the dead,” said Petu.

She is still battling to find her mother’s grave. — simthandilef@dispatch.co.za

Picture: ALAN EASON GROWING CONCERN: Zanele Petu walks among graves that are covered by overgrown grass and bush at Lujiza Cemetery in Duncan Village. Petu is trying to find her late mother’s grave, which is hidden somewhere under the growth