“Help me locate my father’s grave at the Horizon cemetery”
When I visit my father’s grave, I cannot locate it because the cemetery is not being maintained and the long grass prevents me from finding it.
Sandile Ntwasa’s last hope to help him find records of the Horizon View Cemetery which will locate where his father was buried is in the hands of Senior Manager of Cemeteries and Crematoria, Reggie Moloi.
Sandile and Kgatitswe Raborife from the Greater Dobsonville Heritage Foundation explained the history they share with Juliwe Township.
“In the late 90s, African residents of Roodepoort West were removed to Dobsonville, and by 1967, the Juliwe location had been destroyed and Horizon View was proclaimed. During the move, the residents were mostly concerned about what would happen to the cemetery were our loved ones were laid to rest,” said Sandile.
He went on to explain that the cemetery was located on the west side of the location, with a large cattle kraal nearby. A report from 1959 stated that the cemetery contained the graves of 3 000 adults and 2 635 infants.
“As the last resting place for the population of Juliwe, the cemetery played a great role in the cultural and religious life of the community.
The old cemetery was the focus of much ritual activity – a place where both Christian and African ancestral rites were carried out,” he said.
Sandile and Kgatitswe have now formed the Greater Dobsonville Heritage Foundation, and aim to clean up the cemetery in remembrance of their late loved ones.
Sandile said, “When I visit my father’s grave, I cannot locate it because the cemetery is not being maintained and the long grass prevents me from finding it. I spoke to Reggie Moloi about the matter, and he promised that he will look for the records of the cemetery to help locate my father’s grave. Reggie also said that he would organise for the cemetery to be cleaned up. It has been close to six months and still nothing has been done.”
The Record spoke to Reggie about this matter and he responded by saying, “I know that we are currently experiencing backlogs, in as far as the grass cutting is concerned. We will be visiting the cemetery before month-end to catch up on maintenance. The tracing of records is ongoing, as the records are being traced in terms of location from the last time the cemetery was used in 1958.”
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