Something's very wrong when graveyards have to supply security for the dead

South Africa’s thieves are stooping to new all-time lows with the nicking of the ashes of the dead.

In the last three months, thieves have stolen and vandalised the small wooden kists containing ashes of four people at the Wall of Remembrance at the cemetery in the Mpumalanga town of Middelburg.

The kists that could not be opened properly were damaged and the contents emptied on the ground.

The defilement, which has sparked condemnation from religious organisations, is not only occurring in the tiny industrial town, but across the country with reports also in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal.

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