A shortage of burial sites for all religious denominations is currently causing concern for the city of Cape Town, as cemeteries across the city are filling up.
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Speaking to News24, CoCT spokesperson Luthando Tyhalibongo said that, although burial space for Muslims is adequate to meet the current demand, there are requests from families to bury their relatives at specific cemeteries.
According to Tyhalibongo, the Klip Cemetery, which has reached its capacity for the Muslim allotment, also caters for families from other suburbs, including Atlantis, Eerste River and Kraaifontein, because families are choosing to be buried in neighbourhoods where they grew up, along with a desire to be buried with other family members.
He added that Muslim allotments in Muizenberg, Dido Valley, Delft, Khayelitsha, Modderdam and Kleinvlei were generally full but may provide opportunity for reopening of family graves and reuse after the religious burial.
Other space has also been provided in other cemeteries, such as Maitland and Rusthof in Gordons Bay, but most people wanted their deceased family members to be buried at nearby cemeteries.
“All the City’s cemeteries are reaching full capacity,” he told News24. “Therefore, when allocating space, the recreation and parks department must be fair and equitable to all denominations.”
This was also confirmed by the second deputy president of the Muslim Judicial Council (MJC), Shaykh Riad Fataar, who said that the MJC regularly works with the City to come up with solutions for burial space shortages and has already requested more land for the Muslim community.
“There are a number of cemeteries available for Muslim burials, but people feel they want cemeteries closer to them to save on burial costs. This is where the frustration comes from,” he said.
According to Thando Mlumbi, president of the South African Funeral Practitioners Association in the Western Cape, high demand for Christian burials means a longer wait than expected.
“Preferred cemeteries located close to one’s neighbourhood are now only available for reopening where family members are buried on top of each other. For example, Langa, Gugulethu and Khayelitsha cemeteries are full, which forces burials to occur in Maitland and Ottery, which also puts strain on space in those areas,” he said, adding that deaths from COVID-19 were a major contributing factor and that natural deaths outnumbered untimely passings due to shootings, stabbings and accidents.
He added that in African customs, if a person dies from unnatural causes, they must be buried as soon as possible, but booking graves does not always guarantee space.
Burial space isn’t currently a pressing issue for the Jewish community, according to Daniel Boch, the executive director of the Cape South African Jewish Board of Deputies.
However, he added that the organisation was currently working on plans with City officials for additional space, should it be required.
“We have space in our main cemetery for the foreseeable future,” he said.
“Smaller Jewish communities around the Western Cape also have sufficient space for the time being. However, they are also currently in discussion with the relevant municipalities in planning for the future,” Boch said.
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