Residents horrified as Pretoria East cemetery is treated 'like a shebeen'
Residents of Pretoria East have been horrified to witness people treating the area's cemetery as a spot for drinking and socialising.
Pretoria East resident Ria van Vuuren was visiting a loved one's grave when she saw a small group of men using nearby tombstones as backrests while sitting with friends, socialising, and drinking.
According to Rekord Pretoria East, Ria and her family saw men casually walking around the cemetery and one was going as far as bathing in a bucket among the resting places of the dead.
@NoxieSibiya @CityTshwane
— Pretoria Rekord (@RekordNewspaper) July 30, 2018
East cemetery a ‘shebeen’
A family was met with the site of a naked man bathing out of a bucket while another group of men relaxed on tombstones with alcohol. #rekordpretoriaeast
Read more > https://t.co/Sg9natMalm pic.twitter.com/WjTxhJXrDv
The men are believed to be residents of the Plastic View informal settlement, which is only separated from the cemetery by a fence. Despite security guards hired to protect the cemetery from outsiders, this is not the first incidence of people disrespecting the burial grounds by using them as a common area.
The City of Tshwane's authorities have been alerted to the behaviour of the Plastic View residents, but have not been able to remove the residents owing to a court order that is still in effect.