Graves in local cemetery desecrated
2009-09-23
VANDALS are wreaking havoc in the Parys cemetery in Paarl, a family discovered during a recent visit to honour the deceased. On 8 September, it was the seventeenth anniversary of the deaths of a mother and her two children. Antoinette, Jarret and Samantha Bigg died on this day in 1992, when a truck smashed into their vehicle on the Klipheuwel Road. Two weeks before this horrific accident, her father-in-law Robert Bigg passed away and was cremated. His ashes were buried together with that of Antoinette and his grandchildren. When his wife Betty died, her ashes too were buried here. And last year, when Antoinette’s husband Jeff died, his ashes were also placed in this tomb. But this last resting place of six members of one family has not quite been what one would expect. This grave in the Parys cemetery in Paarl has been continuously vandalised in the past ten years. Twice a stone angel has been stolen, while photographs which were placed into the headstone of Antoinette and her two children, have been destroyed. The latest incident has left family members reeling. Surviving sisters of Jeff Bigg, Bobby Nel and Stephanie Gifford, were shocked on their recent visit when they found that an attempt had been made to open the solid granite top of the tomb. It had been shifted several centimetres, before the vandals discovered that they had attempted an almost impossible task, as the top weighs almost half a ton. The headstone had also been shifted. “Through the years we have done our best to maintain the grave, but in recent years, each time we visit, something else has been damaged.It is not about the expenses that we have to incur each time something needs to be fixed, but the memory of our loved ones which is being desecrated.” But sadly the Bigg grave is not an exception. Thoughout Parys cemetery it is evident that vandals are hard at work wantonly destroying the last resting place of many souls. Headstones have been smashed to the ground, any remnant of metal has been stolen for resale on the scrap market, and attempts have even been made to smash open the crypts. Flower containers are stolen, as well as any ornaments on graves. Secluded parts of the cemetery lie littered with broken bottles, plastic bags and even condoms. Cemetery staff are sympathetic towards complaints, but are given few resources and man-power to maintain this huge cemetery. “It is very sad that we are living in a society which has no respect for the dead.And seeing that the Municipality is not making an effort either, we should perhaps, like in Beaufort West, all get together and hire a security guard.”
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