[PICTURES] Damage at Olifantsvlei Cemetery after heavy Joburg rains
Families who buried their loved ones at the Olifantsvlei Cemetery, south of Johannesburg, will have to re-live the ordeal after recent rains damaged several graves.
Parts of Gauteng experienced heavy rainfall and flooding earlier this week, leaving a trail of damage behind.
Johannesburg City Parks’ manager Reggie Moloi says it’s unclear how many graves have been affected by the downpour.
“We were on-site for routine inspections and on doing our rounds we realised that some of the graves have sunken beyond normal, especial the ones that have been recently buried in the last two or three weeks,” says Moloi.
It’s not the first time the cemetery had the same problem.
In 2018, heavy rains collapsed fresh graves at the cemetery.
Moloi requested families who recently buried loved ones to visit the cemetery to assess any damage caused.
“We still send out a similar message to the public that those of families that recently buried, they are being asked please to visit the graves of their loved ones to go and see whether or not there’s damage.
Moloi says measures are being put in place to assist a family to fix the damage.
He adds that they’re working to clear the damage without delaying the burials expected at the weekend.
“We needed to dig the next line which means prepare for the next burials that are going to come. Tomorrow morning, I am going to be at Olifantsvlei to put these logistics in place and if there are families that we will meet there, we’ll ensure that maybe we deal with those first before the next funerals come which is Saturday.”
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