Parties slam BCM’s R3m grave plan
Mayor shrugs off bullying claims
THE Buffalo City Metro council has approved a budget of R3-million for bush clearing and grass cutting at the Mzonyana cemetery in Duncan Village for the next financial year, commencing in July.
The site is where ANC stalwart Alcot Gwentshe is buried. Gwentshe is said to have played a key role in the establishment of the ANC Youth League in East London. As chairman of the party in the city he organised the defiance campaign and was later arrested for his involvement. He died in 1966.
The R3-million allocation was approved in council in December following a status report that former acting head of department of municipal services Neo Moerane tabled in council.
Moerane said the money would be budgeted for the 2017-2018 financial year for bush clearing and grass cutting while a master plan was being drafted for the development of the cemetery into a heritage site.
Although the site is currently in a bad state with overgrown vegetation, uneven ground and constant damp, the R3-million budget was questioned by opposition parties.
The DA labelled the amount as “outrageous”. Caucus chairman councillor Jan Smit said: “R3-million is far too much for just cleaning the area.”
He said the state of cemeteries around the metro was due to “serious neglect”. “This [R3-million] would not be necessary if proper and regular maintenance was done in our cemeteries.
“The Mtsotso cemetery in Mdantsane is in an appalling state with not just overgrown grass but trees everywhere and in Cambridge too maintenance is needed,” added Smit.
Councillor Nonceba Madikane of COPE said: “It can’t be right that one cemetery will get R3-million for a clean-up for one year. But the ANC is the majority and they bully us in council when we oppose. Our concern is that the allocated funds do not even go towards the intended purpose.”
BCM mayor Xola Pakati yesterday defended the decision and said voting on matters was part of democracy.
“Voting is a democratic decision-making process, it is not bullying. It is not only Gwentshe who is buried in that cemetery, other people are buried there from the Duncan Village area. We would like to see the Gwentshe grave as a heritage site because of the role that he played in the liberation struggle of South Africa,” Pakati said, while admitting that the “general state of cemeteries in BCM is not up to scratch”.
The EFF, ACDP and AIC declined to comment on the matter.
Moerane said metro had in the past made efforts to clear bush and cut grass in the cemetery but due to limited resources the work could not be sustained.
“The main intention is to develop and sustain the facility as it attracts local and international tourists who would be interested in the history of Duncan Village,” said Moerane.
Asked how much BCM was spending on other neglected cemeteries, communications officer Bathandwa Diamond said the cemeteries and crematoria division had an operating budget of R31.3million (2016-17) and this amount included the management and running of all the cemeteries in metro.
She said a master plan for the Mzonyana cemetery would be developed and available once a service provider had been appointed. —