After reports of atrocious acts of crime and violence that have taken place in Ekurhuleni cemeteries; the city has employed security services to upgrade safety measures.
Cemeteries such as Thokoza, Schoeman, Phumlani, Edenvale, Ililiba, Lala Ngoxolo, Vlakfontein and Petersfield Cemeteries now have security services. These were the hardest hit by crime and have been beefed up with patrol dogs in addition to security officers and supervisory personnel.
However, all cemeteries now have security officers and supervisory personnel. This intervention has yielded positive results that led to several arrests in Tembisa.
“The municipality also understands that the crime phenomenon is opportunistic in nature, which requires us to keep maintenance up to date in order for criminals not to take advantage of the long grass and overgrown weeds,” Ekurhuleni’s Spokesperson Themba Gadebe said.
In this regard, a contractor was deployed at Alberton Cemetery to deal with a maintenance backlog on the second week of January in order to assist with maintenance, while all the other cemeteries are maintained twice a month.
