I was fortunate to sit next to Reggie Moloi who not only acted as tour guide, giving us entertaining commentary as we drove through Soweto, but also passionately shared insights into the City of Johannesburg’s cemeteries. He proudly told me about the numerous awards the Diepsloot Cemetry has won... how the Jewish and Muslim sectors of Westpark Cemetry are run… how the crematoriums were mostly run by the Hindu community and how objective you need to be in this line of work when most people can be irrational and highly emotive. Another wealth of information in this field is a recently published book called “A journey through Johannesburg’s Parks, Cemeteries and Zoo” by Lucille Davie which was showcased at the convention.

Reggie continued to explain that Avalon Cemetry is 172 hectrares with a 45 hectare extension, but some areas are too rocky and it is nearing full capacity. Furthermore, all central cemeteries (besides Westpark) are full. For this reason the City of Johannesburg looked to Olifantsvlei to be the new cemetery that will serve Soweto. It is 400 hectares and estimated to last sixty years with 888,000 first burials. I found the “recycling” of graves quite interesting: one grave can be used for up to three burials as long as it is within the same family. Reggie jokingly said, “If we mix family graves, the ancestors will fight”.

The cemetery has most infrastructure in place including roads, trees and impressive gabion entrances to the various sections of the cemetery. The circular forms referred to as “cells” give the cemetery an organic and spacious feel. Cells will have different themes including areas with headstones, a full memorial and a memorial garden with only plaques. The wall that has been built around the cemetery (at a cost of R80 million) has been built specifically to incorporate gaps in the pillars so that small animals can pass through it. This is to comply with the environmental impact assessments done for the site.

One problem they are facing, which is preventing the cemetery from opening, is constructing the entrance. Council has indicated that an expensive bridge needs to be built because of the busy road it is located on. There are further ambitious plans for the cemetery, including introducing game into the conservation area close to the stream, employing 200 people, building a one stop commercial facility with florists etc. and removing the paving in future to maximize space.

The annual IERM convention was held on the 28th,29th and 30th of September at Glenburn Lodge in Johannesburg. After two days of informative and insightful lectures everyone was excited to spend the third day out in the field to view some of the parks developed by Johannesburg City Parks (JCP). The atmosphere was relaxed and jovial as everyone climbed onto the luxury air-conditioned buses that the City of Joburg had sponsored, which we were so grateful for when the temperatures soared into the high thirties.

The first park we visited was Leratong Park where you are welcomed by a large red steel sculpture, consisting of several hands on tall masts shaped in the hand signal that means “I love you” in sign language. The park is situated in Region C, located in the Greater Roodepoort area near Krugersdorp, in an informal settlement and named after the nearby Leratong Hospital.

Puleng Ditabe, Regional Manager of Region C, shared insights into the park and described the two main challenges that they were faced, the first was finding suitable space for development. The park is in fact built on a servitude where Rand Water pipes run and ironically you will see signs throughout the park warning people to stay clear of the area because of the pipes running below, although this is quite the contrary now that the park has been built. Although it is risky this was one of the only open areas available and Rand Water and JCP were able to come to an agreement because the pipes do not need to be accessed regularly. The second challenge was vandalism as they had a recycling station that was burned.

Puleng with David and Fortunate who are permanently employed to take care of the park

The park is 2 hectares in size and boasts numerous brand new facilities including: artificial turf soccer field, netball court, outdoor gym, braai areas, two playground areas, ablutions and a vegetable garden. The vegetable garden has not been handed over to the community yet and I imagine that managing this production in a public space has its own challenges. Planting Fruit Trees was raised as a question and Thabang Mokone from JCP mentioned that Urban Forestry and Food Security are priorities for the City of Johannesburg and educating people is what is needed for fruit trees to become successful.

As with any successful park the community needs to take ownership and adopt the facility as its own. Only in this way will the community take pride in it and make sure that it is maintained and cared for. We met two of the community members who have been permanently employed to work in Leratong Park: David, head gardener, who reports to a senior horticulturalist and Fortunate who not only looks after the ablutions, but acts as a mother and caretaker to the park.

Many Olive and Bushwillow trees have been planted which is in line with the City of Joburg’s drive to make the Southern suburbs greener. The park is not fenced off and neighbouring houses are encouraged to have gates that open onto the park so that they can use and enjoy it. Phase 1 was completed in 2014 financial year and cost R1.7 million while Phase 2 was recently completed in 2015 and cost R2.4 million. A large amount of money was invested into this flagship park and it is evident that its investors care deeply about it, now it is up to the community to fall in love with it too.

IERM Convention: Olifantsvlei Cemetery

IERM Convention: Leratong Park Site Visit