News / National
City grave-digging machine breaks down
03 Dec 2023 at 12:26hrs | Views
COUNCIL was forced to suspend burials at Umvutsha Park cemetery in Bulawayo recently due to the breakdown of a grave-digging machine.
Mourners were being turned away and referred to other graveyards like Luveve and Athlone.
"Again we have to shoulder the fuel expenses of going to Luveve yet we had already paid for the Umvutsha grave which is more expensive than Luveve," said one resident.
"We don't know if we are going to be reimbursed."
Another resident said: "The same thing happened to us on Saturday when we were already at Umvutsha.
"We were told to go to Athlone."
Council spokesperson Bongiwe Ngwenya said the council grave digger had broken down.
"Sadly, the City of Bulawayo ran out of graves on Saturday, November 25 but by Sunday November 26 grave production had commenced," she said.
"Some burials slated for Saturday/Sunday were rerouted to Luveve although burials resumed at Umvutsha cemetery on Monday, November 27."
Mourners were being turned away and referred to other graveyards like Luveve and Athlone.
"Again we have to shoulder the fuel expenses of going to Luveve yet we had already paid for the Umvutsha grave which is more expensive than Luveve," said one resident.
"We don't know if we are going to be reimbursed."
"We were told to go to Athlone."
Council spokesperson Bongiwe Ngwenya said the council grave digger had broken down.
"Sadly, the City of Bulawayo ran out of graves on Saturday, November 25 but by Sunday November 26 grave production had commenced," she said.
"Some burials slated for Saturday/Sunday were rerouted to Luveve although burials resumed at Umvutsha cemetery on Monday, November 27."
Source - the standard
