"A Time to Die"

What is to be done with the nation's dead?

This Tuesday Special Assignment asks a grim question: "What is to be done with the nation's dead?"

In a country with a huge housing shortage, and a host of other priorities for town planners, it hardly seems of major concern to look for future cemetery space. But cemeteries are increasingly becoming a town planning priority as South Africa experiences zero population growth rate: the rates of births and deaths have equalised.

Unnatural Deaths and Pauper Burials

Urbanization, disease (especially HIV/Aids), unnatural deaths and a rise in pauper burials are being blamed for the current squeeze on burial space. Municipalities are being forced to find alternative sites for cemeteries as more and more burials take place.

Johannesburg alone has experienced a 25 percent increase in burials over the last five years. The city and the country's biggest cemetery, Avalon, will run out of space in the next six years.

Cemeteries will run out of Space

Other cemeteries, like Mountain Rise in Pietermaritzburg, will run out of space a lot sooner. Kwa-Zulu/Natal is in the grip of the HIV/Aids pandemic, and municipal authorities are scrambling to find alternative burial sites because existing ones are just about full. Research done for town planners in the province project that the space required for burial in the province over the next decade would be "the equivalent of 3 240 soccer pitches."

The search is on to find alternative ways of disposing of human bodies. These include cremation, burying more than one body in a grave, and mausoleums (above-ground burials). But municipal authorities have to contend with strong cultural beliefs and taboos around burial. Convincing communities to re-evaluate the way they go about burying their dead, is proving difficult.

Potential Health "Time Bomb"

There is also a potential health "time bomb". In certain areas people are indiscriminately using land for "unofficial" burial sites. Some are failing to adhere to health regulations, such as burying a body at a minimum depth. Others are using land that is too close to a water source, making the pollution of ground water a very real possibility.

Special Assignment explores the subject of death through the eyes of those who work with it most intimately: a policeman who drives a mortuary van, a forensic pathologist, a crematorium worker, a grave digger and a funeral undertaker.

The documentary is produced by award-winning journalist Khadija Magardie, and was filmed by Mzwandile Njokwane and Dudley Saunders.

More Articles...

To view more articles about Cemeteries, Burial Land, and Graveyard space, click HERE...

Previous Page | Top of Page