A number of grave sites at the South End cemetery have received a facelift, with at least 50 being painted white.
Two weeks ago, the Port Elizabeth Muslim community, with funds received from donors, initiated the project in the historical cemetery.
Islamic scholar Sheikh Shamiel Panday said the idea of painting the graves and cleaning the area of the cemetery specifically designated for Muslims came after requests to metro officials to have the burial sites cleaned fell on deaf ears.
Since the 1990s, community members had been cleaning and maintaining the area as a show of respect and to beautify the area, he said.
“This has been dependent on donations received from the community,” Panday said.
In addition to painting the graves, tin sheeting used as borders around the graves had been replaced with cement.
“People who go to the cemetery to pay their respects were getting injured by the sheeting, especially when the grounds were overgrown, making it difficult to see it,” Panday said.
Over the years, numerous headstones and grave sites at the South End cemetery and others across the metro have deteriorated due to neglect and vandalism – with headstones toppled over or broken, shrubbery left overgrown, and a lack of security.
Municipal spokesman Mthubanzi Mniki said although families were responsible for the upkeep and maintenance of broken graves and headstones, the municipality’s parks and cemeteries department was responsible for the upkeep of the grounds.
“The department is trying to make cemeteries green by planting trees,” he said.
“[The] cemetery section [of the department] is responsible for cleaning the cemeteries on a weekly basis and grass is mown once a month.”An annual budget of about R2-million was set aside by the municipality to maintain the grounds, Mniki said.
Plans to beef up security at cemeteries across the metro were already in place with a 24-hour security officer stationed at premises to curb possible vandalism.
On Wednesday, the municipality will visit the Motherwell cemetery where the public health department will outline plans, budget and work that is being done in all cemeteries, Mniki said.