Clean-up for PE cemetery

Michael and Sheroda Hutchinson, who head up the cleaning project, hope to restore the Russell Road Cemetery to its former glory as their own relatives are buried there.

“We feel our loved ones’ resting place should be respected,” Michael said.

“We also intend clearing out the badly overgrown bushy section to prevent the vagrants from using the place as a hideout spot.

“Our aim is to keep the area clean by cutting down all the trees and clearing out the rubbish.”

Hutchinson said he and his wife had taken on the project as the municipality had allowed the cemetery to fall into a neglected state.

He said the only work they ever saw taking place was the sporadic cutting of grass, when municipal workers would kick rubbish out of their way to mow.

Hutchinson asked two of his employees to lend a helping hand in removing the rubble and cutting down one of the bougainvillea trees but ran into some financial difficulty, as the project is largely being funded from his own pocket.

The couple are cleaning up the cemetery and the land next to the graveyard.

The municipality’s acting head of corporate services, Vuyo Zitumane, said the adjacent land was privately owned and did not form part of the municipality’s mandate.

“The property on the far right . . . is private property and does not form part of the boundary of the Russell Road Cemetery,” she said.

“The parks and cemeteries sub-directorate is responsible for maintaining this cemetery and parks workers are sent twice a week to remove rubble.”

Financial donations were received from residents in Richmond Hill to help pay the labour costs.

Richmond Hill special rates area director Rory Norton, 56, who has also put money in the kitty, said: “I thought I needed to help out and I covered the employees’ wage costs for five days.”

Bavuyiso Toko, 26, of Airport Valley, who is one of the workers clearing the rubble, said: “It is very hard work to clean up the cemetery but we are managing . . . I need the money, that is why I am helping out.”

While maintenance to the grassy area has progressed well, the far right-hand side of the cemetery has been neglected and Hutchinson says there is a tombstone beneath the rubble.

“I have seen a tombstone underneath all this mess. It blows my mind as to why it was neglected and forgotten,” he said.

The project should take about four weeks to complete if sufficient funding is provided for it.

“We are taking back the area, clearing it out and will maintain it thereafter,” Hutchinson said.