Bereaved families in the north of Pretoria have less than three months before the graveyards in Mabopane and Ga-Rankuwa could reach their full capacity.
The situation whereby burial plots in both townships are likely to be filled by March would leave many families with an option of burying their loved ones at a Soshanguve’s cemetery known as Klip-Kruisfontein.
Klip-Kruisfontein, commonly known as the Crossing cemetery, is located on the Ruth First Road off- ramp and close to the Soshanguve Crossing Mall.
Mourners would be expected to travel at least 15 km away from their local burial sites to reach the Soshanguve cemetery, which was officially opened in 2017.
A few years ago the City of Tshwane said it had embarked on a project to upgrade the Klip-Kruisfontein, which was initially meant to have a lifespan of five years.
The facility’s new lifespan was planned to be between 10 and 12 years, according to former MMC for Environment and Agriculture Management, Mike Mkhari in 2019.
“Our programme is to ensure we don’t run out of cemeteries. We have taken it upon ourselves that there are cemeteries that ought to be expanded,” he said at the time.
However, this week the City sounded an alarm that it was fast running out of the burial space in Mabopane and Ga-Rankuwa cemeteries.
Municipal spokesperson Lindela Mashigo said: “The Ga-Rankuwa and Mabopane Cemeteries, in Region 1, are scheduled to close before the end of the first quarter of 2024 as the two facilities have neared their full life span.”
He said the imminent closure of the two facilities followed a recent assessment conducted by the municipality in Region 1.
The assessment, he said, revealed that the burial space in the two townships was reaching its capacity limit.
The findings indicated that the lifespan for Mabopane cemetery was anticipated to come to an end by February 2024 depending on the number of burials.
Mashigo said: “Should the number be higher than anticipated, the lifespan might end in January 2024.”
On the other hand, the Ga-Rankuwa cemetery’s lifespan was estimated to end by March 2024.
However, Mashigo said, the lifespan might end sooner than stated if the burial number turned out to be high.
“The city is obligated to inform members of the public that post the closure, both facilities will cater for reburial and/or reopening services as well as bookings for the erection of tombstones. In addition to the mentioned services, members of the public will continue to have visitation rights to the gravesites,” he said.
He said the city’s Environmental Management Department was working on identifying new plots for the development of cemeteries to cater for future burials.
The Star