Graves cave in at Joburg cemetery after heavy flooding

Several graves at the Olifantsvlei cemetery, south of Johannesburg, have caved in after heavy flooding, City Parks said.

“When burying someone, the soil settles down after time but because of the rain and flooding, the soil has caved in,” said City Parks MD Bryne Maduka.

It was unclear how many graves at the cemetery were affected.

“Graves from late October until the most recent ones were affected. This is not a new thing. It happens all the time at that cemetery,” Maduka said.

“We have sent messages to the families of the affected graves to come through so we can do the filling with the family. We can’t do the filling without the family. If they don’t come to us within a week, we usually do the filling.”

MMC for community development Margaret Arnolds said staff and contractors were on standby to assist with refilling the identified grave sites.

“City Parks and Zoo understands graves are sacred to families who have laid their loved ones to rest. Our teams are on standby to restore the sunken soil where family members have identified such at the cemetery,” Arnolds said.

TimesLIVE