Following a voicenote doing the rounds on WhatsApp, claiming that all Muslim cemeteries are flooded due to the inclement weather conditions, and therefore, will not be conducting burials, the Secretary of the Muslim Judicial Council’s (MJC) Burial Administration and Chairperson of the Muslim Cemetery Board Faizal Sayed declared the news as fake.
Speaking on VOC’s Breakfast show earlier this morning, Sayed confirmed that no burials have been suspended.
“Mowbray cemetery had three burials today, and they are confirming that they are continuing to dig. However, if they find water in a particular section, they will move the burial to a spot where there is no water. Brodie Road Muslim Cemetery in Wynberg also had burials, and they are just doing some checks as they have experienced a little bit of water coming up, but they removed that,” clarified Sayed.
He conducted a live press briefing to put things into perspective, explained Sayed, and confirmed that Mowbray Moslem Cemetry had two burials yesterday.
“However, Mowbray cemetery did have numerous huge trees which collapsed in the cemetery. The trees damaged graves and tombstones, and because some of them were so huge, they crashed over pathways. Our concern with Mowbray is that the clay is a bit on the fluid side at the moment, so people are slipping around. There is also a concern more trees will collapse. We are asking the public to be cautious and visit only if you really have to,” added Sayed.
Sayed went on to elaborate that burials have not resumed due to the current weather conditions, however, once the rain subsides, explained Sayed, burials will then resume.
“Valmont Cemetery continued burials over this weekend, and Johnson Road Cemetery had a burial yesterday evening. Stegman Road Cemetery had a little bit of a high water table, which they experienced on that side of the mountain. They are not burying at the moment,” said Sayed.
“But to allay the community’s fears, if somebody passed away, all these cemeteries are currently burying people. We just like good communication between the undertakers so we can take extra caution and care to ensure that we are not in a water-logged area of the cemetery, which can happen at some of the cemeteries,” added Sayed.
Photo: VOCfm
