5 days ago
Mobeni Heights and oThongathi crematoria to be restored
eThekwini mayor Cyril Xaba visited the Mobeni Heights Crematorium, which has been out of order
Image: Supplied
The eThekwini Municipality will be spending R21-million to repair and replace furnaces at the Mobeni and oThongathi Crematoria.
During a site visit of the Mobeni Heights Crematorium on Tuesday, eThekwini mayor Cyril Xaba assured the community affected by the closure of the Mobeni Heights Crematorium that the municipality would accelerate the process of restoring the facility.
To remedy the situation, the municipality is procuring two furnaces which will be installed by the end of August.
Xaba has vowed to monitor the repairs closely to ensure that the facility is back to its full operations.
'The municipality has allocated R14 million to repair the furnaces and to give the entire facility a facelift,' he said.
Xaba added the process of repairing the oThongathi Crematorium was at an advanced stage as the municipality reprioritised R7 million for the replacement of furnaces.
'We anticipate completing the work at the oThongathi Crematorium by the end of next month,' said Xaba.
Both crematoria have been plagued with challenges due to aging infrastructure, resulting in constant closure of the facilities.
The Mobeni Heights Crematorium was closed due to the furnaces malfunctioned as they were prone to overheating, resulting in high emissions. This posed environmental health risks to the surrounding community.
The decision to act comes on the heels of persistent appeals from community members and local funeral practitioners who have expressed frustration over years of inadequate service.
Clive Moodley, president of the Progressive Funeral Practitioners Association of South Africa, said they approached the mayor's office last week after having fruitless meetings over a number of years with other councillors and officials.
"Mobeni Heights has not been operational for a year. Prior to that in the last 20 years there has been ongoing problems. One furnace will work and the other won't or both will stop working. Then there was the issue of gas.
"After engaging with councillors and local government officials and getting nowhere we went direct to the mayor. And he came out for the site visit," said Moodley.
Moodley said they now hope that something will be done soon and there will be progress.
"Apart from it being costly for families to have funerals at private crematoriums, it is also more travel distances and different rules and regulations at some of these facilities," he said.
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