The FF Plus strongly condemns the vandalism at Jubilee cemetery and sport stadium.
After receiving numerous complaints from local residents of Jubilee Park in Kariega (Uitenhage), the FF Plus paid an oversight visit to the cemetery and sport stadium to investigate the extent of the damage first-hand.
During the party’s visit to the Jubilee cemetery, it came to light that many of the NMBM's municipal regulations for cemeteries and crematoria are being violated, which amounts to a criminal offence.
Some of the regulations that are being violated, and that the FF Plus witnessed first-hand, include: People wandering aimlessly among the graves, creating the impression that they might be living there; tombstones have been overturned or damaged; a boundary wall has been broken down and carried off brick by brick; cremation vessels containing ash have been ripped out of the memorial wall and damaged; residents who live nearby often take a short cut through the cemetery, and garbage, like liquor bottles, is strewn everywhere.
There is nothing left of the sport stadium, which had been in use up until the first Covid-19 restrictions; it is now an empty shell harbouring drug users and vagrants.
It is going to cost NMBM taxpayers millions to repair it. There is no security at any of these facilities.
The apparent reason for the situation is the insourcing of security guards three years ago at the insistence of the EFF. Up until the insourcing, a security company had been responsible for guarding, among other things, the cemetery on a month-to-month basis.
After the insourcing, the month-to-month contract was not renewed and as a result, security became a serious problem and municipal property was destroyed.
As a member of the Metro's Safety and Security Committee, the FF Plus will demand that effective security companies must be appointed to protect municipal property and public spaces, and that strict action is taken against vandals.
;
