THE Nelson Mandela Bay Metro has more than enough burial sites and land available for the spike in funerals due to COVID-19 related deaths.
These are the findings of the metro’s Acting Mayor, Tshonono Buyeye, during a recent visit to Nelson Mandela Bay’s largest cemetery, Motherwell Cemetery, after concerns were raised about the Bay’s burial planning as the number of deaths as a result of the virus continues to rise.
Buyeye said that there was a lot of panic among residents when it came to reports from other cities around the country about not having enough space for graves.
“We felt that the directorate needed to give us a clear picture as to where we stand, as Nelson Mandela Bay, and wanted to come and see for ourselves. We are currently sitting at 38 000 sites just here in Motherwell and if you add other available sites, they add up to 85 000. This excludes land that is available, as these are just sites that can be utilised at any time,” he added.
“It gives us comfort because the last thing we want to see in our metro is that when people lose their loved ones, they still have to worry about where they will bury them.
“We don’t only want to emphasise the availability of the grave sites, but with the whole process we need to make sure that our people are treated with dignity when they are no more.
“The families must be treated with dignity when they are grieving. We need to ensure that the entire process is satisfactory, especially when it comes to the municipality because we have received complaints before from funeral undertakers around issues of digging of graves for COVID-19 related deaths.”
During his visit, Buyeye was joined by Public Health portfolio head, Yolisa Pali, executive director, Sizwe Mvunelwa and the Shweme and Shweme Funeral Directors in Zwide.
Mvunelwa said that, in addition to the burial sites, there are two crematoria in the Bay and the current capacity indicates that they can accommodate roughly 900 bodies.
“We are also well prepared when dealing with different cultures and beliefs.”
He added that the metro had prepared more burial sites in KwaNobuhle, as the area is a concerning hot spot.
“In anticipation of the grave sites filling up, we vigorously interacted with the Department of Environmental Affairs to authorise us to open more space in KwaNobuhle and recently received the authorisation, although we have already started clearing up land with their permission as we have enough municipal land.”
Spokesperson for Shweme and Shweme Funeral Directors, Mandla Hadashe, commended the municipality for keeping healthy relations with funeral undertakers.
“Whenever we have challenges, they are the first people that we contact for advice. We were provided with the Disaster Management Act guideline, which we apply, especially during this critical time of COVID-19 and educated our employees who are handling the bodies of those who have passed on due to COVID-19,” Hadashe said.
COVID-19 hot spot areas in the metro remain Motherwell, Uitenhage, KwaNobuhle and KwaZakhele.
