Families seek alternatives to dilapidated cemeteries to bury their dead

Families in Mthatha have implored King Sabata Dalindyebo local municipality bosses to introduce alternative options toburying the dead, including cremation. “We need our own crematorium here in Mthatha because the journey to East London is very expensive.” KSD community services director Fundisile Guleni, who led a team of more than 100 municipal employees during the cleanup campaign, said they wereexploring newer methods of disposing of bodies— burying people upright, cremation and aquamation. “If you bury someone standing up, it means you can secure a smaller burial plot than normal.

“We are also looking at using layers where you bury someone on the first layer and then another on the second layer, directly above that one, and then another one on the third layer.” The poor state of the Sutton Cemetery has been a bone of contention between KSD and the families of many people buried there. In 2021, it was reported that many graves had been desecrated, with granite headstones stolen, something authorities suspected was the work of a well-co-ordinated syndicate. Security guards employed by the municipality to protect the area also complained it was infested with venomous snakes.

In 2023, the municipality announced it planned to install high-mast lights to keep criminals at bay. But it was also involved in a verbal spat with residents after stating that the upkeep of the individual graves — as opposed to the cemetery as a whole — was the responsibility of the families whose loved ones were buried there. We urge families to keep checking up on the graves of their loved ones. We need to love our departed