BCM hires TLBs to help villagers bury their dead

Buffalo City Metro (BCM) has hired five tractor-loader-backhoes, or TLBs,  to dig graves for villagers as the lockdown regulations prevent traditional burials from being carried out.

BCM’s Covid-19 burial plan intervention strategy also makes provision for the hire of three flatbed trucks.

Two TLBs will be used for the inland region, two for the midlands and one for the coastal areas. The flatbed trucks will transport the TLBs to the cemeteries.

More than 100 villages will benefit from this plan, which is being championed by the metro’s portfolio head for community services, Nontsikelelo Peter.

Peter said BCM was undertaking the operation to assist rural villagers and metro residents to bury their dead while adhering to lockdown regulations.

The TLBs would work as and when needed, she said.

Traditionally, young men dig the graves in rural villages. That process usually takes somewhere between five and seven hours to complete, although in some cases it can take up to two days because of rocky terrain.

The grieving family has to prepare food for the diggers, while spades, picks and shovels are sourced from the local community.

“We started last week and we will continue to help the communities who are in need of these TLBs,” Peter said. “This is a decision that was taken in a command team that is led by mayor Xola Pakati. BCM is doing this as a preventive measure. Social distancing is very important.”

TLB operator Aphiwe Babu said they had been working in a number of villages in and around King William’s Town. When DispatchLIVE met him at Zinyoka village, Babu had already dug two graves.

“I’ve been to a number of villages and the next one is to go to Tshabo village. We wait for the call and we go and dig for the communities,” he said.

Villager Ntsizwa Zantsi said the work by the municipality was welcomed as the community had been struggling to dig the graves.

“To be honest, we are happy with what the municipality has decided to do,” Zantsi said. “This was a sober decision as it is helping a lot of the people in the village. Young men who were doing the job have since gone to big cities and this has become a struggle for us as elderly people.”

Mandisi Majola said the municipality should continue with the service  beyond the lockdown.

“We always knew that the municipality could afford to assist the community by doing this work,” Majola said. “To have a TLB working like this helps us a lot and we as the community are happy to be able to witness this. It has been a challenge for young men to dig graves.”

Not everyone is happy, however.

Masixole Xhamela, of King William’s Town’s Ethembeni village, said the municipality should have first consulted with the community before deciding to introduce the TLBs.

“What is being done is good, but they should have engaged us as the youth so that we keep doing the work and share the money that has been used to hire these TLBs,” said Xhamela.

Peter said: “We see the need to help the communities and if we have a chance, we will make sure that there’s budget for this in the next financial year.”