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Roubeklaers moet omdraai ná verkeerde graf voorberei is
A heartbroken Danie du Plessis from Pretoria West stated that Tshwane’s conduct surrounding his mother’s funeral complicated matters for the family and was responsible for the funeral not being able to proceed as planned.
The funeral had to be postponed to another day, even though they had already arrived at the Zandfontein Cemetery with the funeral cortege and mourners wearing mourning attire.
“The cemetery staff prepared the wrong grave,” explained a distressed Du Plessis. “We had to organize a second funeral.”
Du Plessis’ mother passed away on August 10, and for the funeral, his father’s grave had to be reopened.
He is particularly upset because the council spokesperson, Lindela Mashigo, denied that the error leading to the incident was Tshwane’s fault.
Du Plessis explained to Rekord that some of the graves in the cemetery bear the same numbers.
“Some of the graves have duplicated grave numbers, which could lead to such a mistake being made,” he stated.
“But how does this happen? How are grave numbers in a cemetery duplicated?”
Instead of preparing the grave for his mother’s funeral, another grave was prepared by the cemetery supervisor and workers for the burial.
He had previously, as requested by the funeral director, visited the cemetery himself to sign for the reopening of his father’s grave.
As the family regularly visits his father’s grave, he immediately knew on the day of his mother’s funeral that the wrong grave had been prepared when the procession arrived.
His mother’s coffin was supposed to rest atop his father’s grave, as is the custom in the cemetery, but no preparation had been made at his father’s grave.
A new grave was prepared for his mother, the late Thea Petro Pretorius.
Now, the council indicates that the grave number was not duplicated, and hence no confusion could have arisen.
“The numbers are duplicated, and I can go show them. I approached the council myself and received no answers on this,” said Du Plessis.
He is also angered by the fact that no municipal official approached the family with an apology.
The funeral had to be canceled, and only a few days after his father’s grave was reopened, Du Plessis and some mourners could hold the funeral as those who had traveled from afar had already gone back home.
“It affected us all that so much trauma was added to our loss.”
He believes it’s time for the municipality to investigate the cemeteries to see what regulations are still being applied and establish proper supervision over the cemeteries.
He mentioned that the family did receive an apology from the funeral director, even though the mistake cannot be attributed to them.
“The poor man said this is the first time in his 54 years as a funeral director that something like this has happened,” Du Plessis shared.
According to Mashigo, each grave has the correct number according to the cemetery’s layout plan.
He is not aware of similar cases in the past, but the cemetery supervisor did take note of the incident.
He explained the process as follows: The grieving family applies for the grave to be reopened. Upon receiving the application, the city checks the records and identifies the grave for the burial. Orders are then given to open and prepare the grave after the family has signed for it.
Mashigo believes that the family did receive an apology from the cemetery staff on the day of the funeral, which could not proceed.
He did not comment on whether any costs related to the second funeral would be covered for the family.
According to him, there has never been a need to investigate any corruption related to the Zandfontein Cemetery.
– Click here to watch a video of the Zandfontein Cemetery.
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