THERE was a time when the dead were respected. People wouldn’t even walk over graves, let alone damage memorial stones placed to honour the ...
THERE was a time when the dead were respected. People wouldn’t even walk over graves, let alone damage memorial stones placed to honour the dead.
But thieves have no respect for the living or the dead!
And at Kanana in Hammanskraal, north of Tshwane, criminals are robbing the dead of anything made of metal on their gravestones.
Residents now pray that the ancestors will punish these thieves who steal anything – from metal bars and grave cages to metal boards – used to mark the graves. They then sell their stolen goods as scrap metal.
When Daily Sun visited Kanana cemetery, caretaker Jerry Maoka showed the SunTeam the destruction.
“The thugs come at night to steal metal boards that mark the graves. Last week we recovered about 11 name boards hidden in a shallow grave.
“We suspect they were hidden by nyaope addicts who always trouble us in the cemetery.
“Without these markers families will find it very difficult to locate graves.
“We are currently putting signboards back at the graves and we appeal to the community to come and check if their graves are still in order.”
Resident Ester Moeketsi said: “I pray that the ancestors punish all those who steal from the dead.
“Cops must shut down illegal scrap metal dealers who keep buying stolen goods.”
Mmakgotso Mpheneyeke of Hammanskraal police said affected families should register cases at the cop shops so that they can be investigated. Daily Sun
But thieves have no respect for the living or the dead!
And at Kanana in Hammanskraal, north of Tshwane, criminals are robbing the dead of anything made of metal on their gravestones.
Residents now pray that the ancestors will punish these thieves who steal anything – from metal bars and grave cages to metal boards – used to mark the graves. They then sell their stolen goods as scrap metal.
When Daily Sun visited Kanana cemetery, caretaker Jerry Maoka showed the SunTeam the destruction.
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| Kanana cemetery caretaker Jerry Maoka with some of the recovered metal grave markers. Photo by Mmanoko Mosehlana |
“We suspect they were hidden by nyaope addicts who always trouble us in the cemetery.
“Without these markers families will find it very difficult to locate graves.
“We are currently putting signboards back at the graves and we appeal to the community to come and check if their graves are still in order.”
Resident Ester Moeketsi said: “I pray that the ancestors punish all those who steal from the dead.
“Cops must shut down illegal scrap metal dealers who keep buying stolen goods.”
Mmakgotso Mpheneyeke of Hammanskraal police said affected families should register cases at the cop shops so that they can be investigated. Daily Sun
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