Cemetery in a grave state

GEORGE NEWS - The sorry state of George Cemetery has been a bone of contention for many years. For some residents it is also the reason why they would rather choose cremation as an option when the topic of a "final resting place" arises.

When Barby Richards buried her companion, David Harold Wilkomirsky, four weeks ago, she was advised not to visit the grave as muggings had taken place and it was dangerous. However, she decided to make up her own mind about the situation and went to visit David's grave last week Wednesday.

"A group of youths came towards me, arms threatening, and looking extremely confrontational. Needless to say I hightailed it out of there before they got to me. This is totally unacceptable," Richards wrote in a letter to George Herald.

She took photos of a derelict building at the top end of the cemetery, which is clearly home to vagrants who desecrate the place by littering, defecating and urinating there. "They have no respect for the living and even less for the dead. Bottles, toilet paper, take-away cartons and other rubbish are strewn around the graves," she wrote. In addition, some grave mounds have sunk to a foot below the surface whilst others are filled with water.

Richards asked for accountability for the abhorrent state of the cemetery. "Lockdown is not an excuse as the cemetery was in a state of neglect long before. Can the municipal budget not be stretched to cover fencing and policing of this sacred ground?" she asked.

Some grave mounds have sunk to a foot below the surface.

Empathy
Municipal Director of Community Services Walter Hendricks noted Richards' concerns and empathised with her and others in this situation.

"We have in the meantime cleaned up again at the George Cemetery and applied herbicide all over the cemetery to get rid of overgrown weeds et cetera," he said. "The small building referred to at the cemetery does not belong to the municipality. We are in the process of addressing the situation with the owners. The grave sites are the responsibility of the next of kin of the deceased buried there.

"The municipality fills up sunken graves from time to time, but it is per se the responsibility of the next of kin." Hendricks said with the beginning of the new budget year, the directorate will consider security at the premises, "depending on what the budget allows".

A sunken grave filled with water.

Doomed
"We need to stop complaining and band together to achieve something constructive to right this terrible wrong otherwise we are all doomed," said Richards in her heartfelt letter.

"What have we come to if we cannot visit our loved ones' graves in safety and peace? What has happened to past values instilled in society? Surely I am not alone in wanting to spend safe quiet time at the cemetery."

A derelict building at the top end of the cemetery is clearly a home to vagrants.