The Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality advises that, following the recent flooding, all its cemeteries are still open for burials, except the following three, because of the water-logged conditions:
- Forest Hill Cemetery – this cemetery is still closed for both burials and reburials, the interment of ash and monumental works.
- Paapenkuils Cemetery – this cemetery has in fact been closed for some years for burials, but has remained open for reburials, i.e. two coffins in the same plot, but is now also closed for reburials, the interment of ash and monumental works.
- Bloemendal Cemetery – this cemetery is closed for both burials and reburials, as well as the interment of ash.
The families of the deceased who would have preferred to have their loved ones buried in one of the above three cemeteries, have the option to have their deceased buried in any other municipal cemetery of their choice.
Should the families of the deceased not wish to consider an alternative permanent site, they will be allocated a (temporary) redirected gravesite. They will not have to pay for the (temporary) plot or the subsequent exhumation once water levels have subsided and burial/reburial becomes possible in the desired cemetery (i.e. Forest Hill, Paapenkuils or Bloemendal). The reburial will be subject to normal fees in the cemetery of original intention. The application for exhumation must channelled via the chosen undertaker of the family, after which the deceased can be interred into the final resting place.
It should also be noted that all cemeteries are now closed to buses and trucks, because of the muddy conditions. In other words, buses can still drop off funeral-goers at cemeteries, but only at the entrance gates.
