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News - Date: 12 March 2012
“It was just an honest human error,” was the response of the Makhado Municipality after an employee had damaged several tombstones at the Louis Trichardt cemetery.
The reaction of visitors to the cemetery was one of shock and disgust.
“One feels furious, of course,” Ms Marietha Snyder said after she discovered that her son’s tombstone had been broken in two and knocked off the grave. It is not the first time her son's tombstone had been damaged.
In addition to the Snyder grave, at least four other headstones were ripped from their graves. The grave numbers are apparently 3607, 3608, 3619 and 3620.
The incident, described by community members as a show of blatant disrespect and incapability, occurred last Friday. At around 14:00, Mr Stephen Lordan visited the grave of his wife and son very close to a new grave where a funeral had apparently taken place a few hours before. On the northern side of the new grave, he saw the damage done to the Snyder grave and the family was alerted. The townwatch and police were also alerted.
“The police captain told me that I should not leave it there and open a case,” Snyder said.
It transpired that the operator of the municipality's back actor had damaged the graves while in the process of digging the grave for the funeral. Municipality spokesperson Mr Louis Bobodi said that “the honest human error” happened since “the passes between the graves are narrow”. The strange thing is that the Snyder grave and the new grave are situated in the very first row of graves, where there is a wide passage. Onlookers agreed that the back-actor operator is obviously incapable of performing this specific duty.
The operator who normally drives the back-actor is the 52-year-old Ms Elizabeth Ramaligela. Bobodi did not react to the newspaper's request to supply the name of the person who operated the machine on that day. “We are currently investigating this incident,” he said.
Ramagilela, incidentally, has a history of damaging municipal infrastructure whilst behind the steering wheel of the back-actor. Last year it was reported that Ramagilela had destroyed electrical cables in Louis Botha Street and water pipes in Breda Street. In some circles she had been dubbed “Cyclone Elisa”. In September last year, she managed to capsize the massive back actor when she tried to dig a hole for burying refuse in Eltivillas at a spot not designated for dumping. At the time, the municipality promised the Zoutpansberger a thorough investigation.
Bobodi did not tender an answer when asked if the families of those whose tombstones had been damaged would be remunerated for the damage. He merely stated that: "We are going to position the stones back to their original position.”
On the overall state of the cemetery in terms of neatness, maintenance and security, Bobodi said: “We have cut the grass and the premises are clean. We are also looking at the security issue.”
The question remains on how to “secure” it against apparent incapability.
Linda van der Westhuizen has been with Zoutnet since 2001. She has a heart for God, people and their stories. Linda believes that every person is unique and has a special story to tell. It follows logically that human interest stories is her speciality. Linda finds working with people and their leaders in the economic, educational, spiritual and political arena very rewarding. “I have a special interest in what God is doing in our town, province and nation and what He wants us to become,” says Linda.
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