The speed at which cemeteries are filling up is a matter of concern, Tshwane cemetery services manager Buti Maponyane said on Monday.
Maponyane said the Tshwane city council is so worried about lack of space at cemeteries, it has embarked on a campaign to promote cremation or at least reinternment.
The number of people being buried has “dramatically escalated” over recent years and finding available land for cemeteries is becoming a problem.
In January, 1Â 081 people were buried in Tshwane cemeteries and only 180 people had opted to be cremated. Statistics for February revealed 637 people were buried with 127 being cremated.
He said most cemeteries are designed with a 20- to 50-year life span but at current burial rates they are falling far short.
Maponyane predicted that all currently active cemeteries will be full by 2009.
“On average there are 30 people a week being buried at each of the cemeteries. Already the Saulsville, Atteridgeville and Rebecca Street cemeteries are full. The dead now have to buried in other cemeteries that service other areas — compounding the problem.”
The city council plans to hold a “Crematorium Open Day” on Saturday to “introduce cremation to the black culture”.
“We want to introduce cremation. Our black brothers and sisters still want the bones of the dead to be buried but it’s taking up too much space.”
Another option is to popularise the idea of reinternment, where two or three members of the same family are buried in the same grave.
“But cremation is so much cheaper. It’s very reasonable and economical,” Maponyane said. — Sapa
Durban runs out of space for the dead