Many residents are up in arms at the terrible state of disrepair of the Aberdeen town cemetery. This important heritage site in the town seems to be suffering from severe neglect, and it seems that no-one has taken responsibility for looking after the cemetery for quite some time. “Oom Jan” van Heerden used to work very hard to maintain the cleanliness and neatness of the graves and surrounds, often paying helpers out of his own pocket, but since his death last year, the air of neglect is evident all over.
Mrs Zan Fitzhenry, who has two children buried in the graveyard, is horrified by the state of neglect, and has approached the Aberdeen Heritage, Archive and Tourism Bureau for help. “The tree that was blown down in the hailstorm has not even been moved, and all the chains and pillars near the war graves have been pulled out. This is a disgusting reflection of the lack of care by those responsible” said Fitzhenry.
Another resident who is very angry is Mrs Esmè Finnis. She too has family buried at the cemetery, both in the main section and the open section near the Jewish cemetery. She had visitors over the holidays who wanted to visit family graves and felt she had to apologise for the state of the cemetery being full of weeds and with many tombstones stolen and graves vandalised. “I have approached the Municipality about this, and asked them why the wall, that was broken in the March storm nearly a year ago, still has not been repaired. They told me they don’t have a mason to fix the wall!” Finnis is determined that something needs to be done, and soon, before Aberdeen cemetery goes the same way as those in many other small towns.
Dallis Graham, of AHATB has applied for funding from Cacadu to place numbered markers at each grave site, to enable visitors to easily find the graves of interest to them. There is little point in this however if the whole graveyard is in such disrepair that it is an embarrassment to the town. The AHATB is also going to appeal to SA Heritage for funding to have someone employed to maintain the cemetery and the organization is prepared to take responsibility for the cemetery if funding Is received. This should however be the responsibility of the Municipality. Another concern of Graham’s is that vagrants are using the area for drinking and other unsavoury activities, as evidenced by the large number of empty bottles and other litter.
Many residents have taken to cleaning up and weeding the area around their own family graves, as they are not prepared to suffer the indignity of the neglect. This should however not be necessary and it is time for those in charge of maintenance to fulfill their responsibilities.
Article Submitted By: Dallis Graham