The Aberdeen cemetery, a repository of the town’s history and memorials, is in rack and ruin.
Overgrown weeds and litter have become commonplace among the almost two-century-old graves of which some have broken tombstones due to vandals.
The façade of the historic cemetery collapsed almost two years ago with thieves stealing the main gate.
The cemetery’s decay has also made it unsafe for tourists, friends and family to visit.
The FF+ brought attention to the cemetery’s condition during an oversight visit.
Dr Beyers Naude municipality spokesperson Vuyisa Jantjies did not respond to questions by the time of publication.
Distraught at the state of the graveyard, the Aberdeen ratepayers’ and farmers’ associations have been chipping in to try restore and maintain the cemetery.
Aberdeen Ratepayers’ Association secretary Colleen Ogilvie said the cemetery’s boundary wall had been down for almost 18 months.
“It is a terrible eyesore when you drive into town from Willowmore because the whole wall fell over.
“Sadly, the municipality does not keep it clean inside, we want to make a plan about that as well.
“There is vandalism happening.
“They can jump over the wall but at least it’s not going to be the first thing visitors see when they come into town and frankly a lot of the farmers have their family members buried there.
“People just wanted to do what they can,” she said.
“We joined hands with the Aberdeen ratepayers with the farmers’ association and so far about 64 metres have been rebuilt.
“We had to break down the pillars at the main gate, we are fixing that and trying to make this gate ‘takeaway’ proof,” she said.
Former Aberdeen Tourism Association chair Sterna Thwaites said the association had tried to intervene in the upkeep of the cemetery because of its value for tourism of the town.
“Historically, it used to be churches that looked after the graveyards but they no longer do due to a lack of funds,” she said.
“We tried to do what we could but we also could not fund the upkeep.
“The municipality says it comes at least once a year to clean, but if they do we do not get told and we have not seen it.
“It’s unfortunate that there is not even enough space now and the municipality now makes allotments in between the older graves and pathways."
Thwaites said the cemetery was a window into the history of the town where significant memorials of the Anglo-Boer upheavals were erected.
“Jan Vorster who owned Brakfontein farm and sold a portion of it to the NG Kerk to start a settlement is buried there.
“The memorial is for non-commissioned officers and men who fell in the district in the Second Anglo-Boer War between 1899 and 1902.
“There is also the memorial of John Alexander Baxter who fought on the Boer side and was executed by the British on October 1901.
“It also has a Jewish section that came about as the town became a trading post for diamonds from Kimberley.”
The FF+, which recently conducted an oversight visit at the graveyard, has called on the municipality to intervene.
FF+ councillor Adriaan van Heerden said they had written to the city manager about the state of the cemetery.
“The FF+ sent an official letter to the municipal manager to bring the matter to his attention and insist that the situation be addressed at once,” he said.
“It is so overgrown by weeds and other vegetation that it is difficult to locate graves.
“Gravestones have been broken and there is litter everywhere.
“The entrances and footpaths are also basically inaccessible.
“The cemetery’s decay has made it unsafe for tourists, friends and family to visit.
“It is unacceptable. It demonstrates contempt for the legacy of those buried there.”
HeraldLIVE
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