The City of Johannesburg is fast running out of land for burials.
This is a reality that must spark a conversation among families to consider cremations as a way out, according to ANC Joburg regional chairperson Dada Morero.
Morero, who is also the city’s member of the mayoral committee responsible for finance and procurement, was addressing a Progressive Professionals Forum event on Wednesday.
The former mayor was unpacking a multibillion-rand budget he tabled for the City of Johannesburg recently.
He said among other challenges, the city faces the scarcity of land for burials and called on black families to consider other means of burial like cremations.
“We are running out of gravesites. The reality is we must have a conversation with black people and Muslims because we have run out of space,” said Morero.
“If that conversation does not start now, it will affect the next generation to come.
“A conversation must start. Are we going to take the route of cremation because we no longer have space?.
“Black people will tell you that they have ancestors they must go and see. The same people will tell you [that] it is the body that dies, but the spirit lives on.
“The reality is that when you want to talk to your ancestors, you can call [on] them anywhere you are in the world.
“You do not need a grave to call [on] your ancestors, but black people find a way of insisting that our culture does not allow for cremation. There is nothing like that.”
He said if people continue to reject cremations as an alternative, grave prices will have to be increased, to up to R20 000.
“Otherwise we are cremating you, or [you] go to the rural areas [to bury your loved one].”
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