Amadlozi swim in their sleep

THIS maspala is putting the dead first.

The Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality has set aside R3 million to fix the Motherwell Cemetery storm water drainage system following recent floods in Gqeberha, Eastern Cape.

Public Health Portfolio head, Thsonono Buyeye, who led a site visit to one of the flooded cemeteries, the Motherwell Cemetery on Wednesday, 23 October, said construction work is expected to start soon in Motherwell to ensure a sustainable solution to the ongoing challenge of flooding.

“We’ve done an assessment of the state of cemeteries after the recent rains. We can confirm that we haven’t only assessed Motherwell but have done so across the city, making sure everything is well in our cemeteries. We are grateful that the damage hasn’t been extensive in our cemeteries. The most affected by flooding were the Motherwell Cemetery, as well as Matanzima and the Gerald Smith cemeteries n Kariega.

“We do have an ongoing challenge as a city whenever there are heavy rains. It’s the constant flooding of our cemeteries which is why we’ve been trying to find a lasting solution to this problem,” said Buyeye.

He said they have a project that will start in the next week or so at Motherwell Cemetery, which seeks to address the problem of flooding where they will try to make sure rainwater is channelled into the existing canal.

“The project entails the development of roads, improve stormwater management outlet, rainwater channeling and soil stabilisation levelling. This is the resting place of our loved ones and we don’t want residents to find it flooded when they visit the graves of their loved ones. We are hoping the same project will be extended to all cemeteries across the city so that graves are kept in a dignified manner,” he said.

Due to budget limitations, a total of R3 million has been budgeted for the current financial year, allowing only Motherwell Cemetery to be attended to during this period.

Buyeye cautioned residents not to believe a fake news audio clip doing the rounds on social media, falsely stating that due to the flooding at cemeteries, burials will not take place in Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality cemeteries this weekend.

“We want to state that there’s no reason for us not to bury during the weekend, as the flooding has already started to subside. The issue of flooding will not affect burials this coming weekend,” said Buyeye.