{"id":114659,"date":"2016-03-05T07:05:00","date_gmt":"2016-03-05T05:05:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/germistoncitynews.co.za\/114659\/no-respect-for-the-dead\/"},"modified":"2016-03-05T19:53:05","modified_gmt":"2016-03-05T17:53:05","slug":"no-respect-for-the-dead","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/develop.citizen.co.za\/germiston-city-news\/news-headlines\/2016\/03\/05\/no-respect-for-the-dead\/","title":{"rendered":"No respect for the dead"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Elsburg Cemetery has come under fire, with reports that the metro has allowed it to fall into disrepair.<\/p>\n

The GCN spoke to Whitey Grobler, whose parents are buried in the cemetery. He explained that the cemetery is in such a state of disrepair that people have begun stealing the wall around the cemetery and several tombstones have been defaced and damaged.<\/p>

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\u201cIn addition to the long grass and weeds, people are dumping in the area,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He also claimed that the cemetery stinks due to a sewage leak in the area.<\/p>

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He has attempted to call the metro\u2019s call centre on several occasions to report the matter but has received no help.<\/p>\n

The GCN sent a query to the metro to find out who was responsible for the cemetery\u2019s upkeep and why it had not been maintained.<\/p>\n

Themba Gadebe, spokesman for the metro, responded with the following statement:<\/p>\n

\u201cThe metro\u2019s parks and cemeteries division is responsible for the cemetery\u2019s maintenance.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe department employs contractors to do the work,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe appointed contractor withdrew and a new one was recently appointed to take its place.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe contractor has started with the work which is expected to be completed within a few days.\u201d<\/p>\n

When GCN journalists visited the cemetery workers could be seen cutting the grass inside the cemetery\u2019s walls.<\/p>\n

Comment from the water and sanitation department on the sewage leak in the area was not received.<\/p>\n