Council confronted over crematorium

Irate community members and grieving families have banded together following numerous problems with Pietermaritzburg's crematorium.

Emotional residents listed their grievances and the added trauma of dealing with a cremation "gone wrong".

This was at a public meeting held in the city on Wednesday night to address ongoing problems at the crematorium and the municipality's apparent "don't care" attitude.

A relative of Naresh Amichand was scheduled to be cremated on December 28 last year, but the facility was locked when family members gathered at the crematorium.

Amichand expressed his frustration: "We inquired from the undertaker and he told us he did not know who was in charge. Three families in mourning were waiting for the crematorium to be opened."

He said the employees only arrived an hour and a half later. However, by that time they had decided to drive to Clare Estate.

"The site is not properly maintained, there are no flowers, no clay pots and even the grass has not been cut. This is unacceptable."

Last year, the municipality lost thousands of rand after 650 of the city's cremations were taken out of Pietermaritzburg because of the problematic machines.

Only one out of three cremators is working effectively.

A task team was appointed to meet municipality officials and table their grievances.

The committee consists of local undertakers, the Msunduzi Rates Forum, the Hindu Midlands Society, community members and a legal representative.

At the meeting, members resolved that legal action would be taken should the municipality fail to resolve their issues speedily.

Nash Jadoo, one of the undertakers present at the meeting, said about three years ago there was a half-burnt body which had to be taken to Durban to cremate.

He recounted another incident where the cremator ran out of gas and he had to "run out looking for some".

"The Pietermaritzburg community are sick and tired of the poor and shoddy service we are receiving," he said.

Committee member Ravin Beachoo said there was such a backlog of cremations that grieving family members couldn't be sure they had the correct ashes.

Lawyer Mergan Chetty, who has offered his services free of charge to the committee, said the municipality was legally obliged to serve the community.

"We [will] send a delegation to the municipality. If our demands are not met, we take them to court. No court will turn us away," said Chetty.

Babs Sithapersad, chairman of the Msunduzi Rates Forum, said they needed to seek the cooperation of all religious groups because it wasn't only Hindus who used the facility.

The municipality's Julie Dyers said: "From my side, I apologise. I am not here to defend what has happened and I can't. I just want to say I am terribly sorry for the incidents and I am sorry for the distress it has caused families."

Municipality speaker Babu Baijoo said he wanted to attend the meeting as a community member but had been advised against it.

"I was told that no one would see me as a member of the Midlands Hindu Society but as a municipality member," he said.

Baijoo said it was good for civil organisations to take up issues.

"I strongly believe that civil society should interact with government because we are a participative democracy. I thought it was a good idea to have the meeting."

He said it was a "pity" that the meeting was reactive and came out of "anger" but added that, if the community were not getting what they wanted, they had every right to challenge the municipality.

"But while challenging it, you have to find solutions. You can't become part of the problem," he said.

In another incident, Pietermaritzburg Judge Rishi Seegobin threatened the municipality with court action after his water and electricity were cut.

Seegobin lodged a complaint with the municipality, saying there had been a billing error on his account. After he spent a week without water, the municipality finally reconnected the service this week.

Last year, the municipality released a "turnaround strategy", which sought to address its weaknesses.

"Service delivery at every level is way below par. The municipality has admitted that these are the areas we need to deal with," said Baijoo.

"The solutions are also in that document and the municipality is implementing them," he added.