Families across Buffalo City say they are too afraid to visit the graves of their loved ones, as overgrown and poorly maintained cemeteries become crime hotspots where visitors risk being attacked.
Across the metro, residents describe burial sites choked by long grass, broken fencing and a lack of basic upkeep. Funeral parlours say they are increasingly being targeted as the state of cemeteries deteriorate.
At the Cambridge Cemetery, one of the worst-affected sites, a woman who visited on Wednesday said she no longer felt safe going alone.
“My sister and I decided to call two male relatives to accompany us, as we were scared we would be attacked,” she said.
She said the overgrown vegetation made it difficult to locate family graves.
“It was a mission to find one of the tombstones … When we asked a municipal official, she said she would struggle to find where the tombstone was located because of how long the grass was.”
Similar complaints have been raised at cemeteries across the metro, including Haven Hills, Buffalo Flats and Mtsotso in Mdantsane, where residents say conditions have deteriorated sharply.
Community leaders and service providers say the state of cemeteries is fuelling crime.
Mdantsane community policing forum leader Siyabulela Naka said they had received numerous reports of robberies at cemeteries, with criminals taking advantage of the dense vegetation.
“The Cambridge, Haven Hills and Mtsotso cemeteries have been hotspots of crime activities. Robbers hijack or steal vehicles and hide them in cemeteries,” he said.
Naka said funeral parlours had also become targets.
“A funeral parlour in Mdantsane has become a victim of armed robbery.
“They were robbed at gunpoint and had their vehicle and sound system stolen while they were setting up in the Mtsotso Cemetery,” he said.
“There is a lack of security in all of these grave sites across the metro, which is concerning.”
He said criminals were also vandalising graves and stealing tombstones.
Pule Funeral Services owner Pule Majeng said his business had been targeted twice at the Haven Hills Cemetery.
“These people come out from the bushes through the overgrown grass,” he said.
“They ambush us with guns, and we have to give them whatever they want.”
Majeng said conditions had become so unsafe that they no longer visited certain cemeteries without support.
“On the days when we have to erect tombstones, we have to ask the crime forum to accompany us, especially in Mtsotso and Haven Hills cemeteries, because we are scared,” he said.
“These robberies have affected my business.”
Residents say they have increasingly been forced to maintain graves themselves.
“We have made it our mission to come and clean once in a while, because BCM is failing us,” the Cambridge visitor said.
At the Haven Hills Cemetery, graves are reportedly almost completely hidden by vegetation, while the Buffalo Flats Cemetery has become a dumping site.
In the Mtsotso Cemetery, conditions have deteriorated further, with the site entangled in live electrical wires illegally connected by nearby residents.
Resident Nombasa Potwana said the situation was driven by desperation.
“We have no choice, because we are in need of electricity and the municipality has neglected us for a long time.
“So we had to take matters into our own hands,” she said.
The issue of poorly maintained cemeteries in Buffalo City is longstanding, with repeated complaints about overgrowth, inaccessible graves and inconsistent upkeep.
Lemarc Stewart, councillor for ward 4 which includes Selborne, Highgate, Cambridge West, Chiselhurst and Berea, acknowledged the challenges, saying the municipality lacked sufficient resources.
“The turnaround time for grass cutting is slow and pathetic,” he said, adding that contractors had been assigned to address conditions at the Cambridge Cemetery.
Ward 19 councillor Shandre Hoffman said the situation pointed to deeper governance failures. Her ward includes Green Fields, West Bank, Fort Glamorgan and Buffalo Flats, among others.
“Honestly, it’s very upsetting. Cemeteries are places of dignity and remembrance, yet many are overgrown and neglected.
“It’s painful for families who go there to honour their loved ones,” she said.
Hoffman said poor co-ordination between municipal departments was compounding the problem.
“For example, the inside and outside of cemeteries are maintained by different directorates, often on different schedules, so one side is cut while the other is left overgrown. That just shows poor management,” she said.
She said repeated concerns raised in council had yielded little change.
“We have been raising this issue consistently at portfolio level.
“Unfortunately, many of our questions remain unanswered, and even oversight visits meant to hold officials accountable don’t seem to have any lasting effect.”
Hoffman called for urgent intervention, including a co-ordinated maintenance plan and better use of municipal resources.
“Municipal equipment must be taken out of workshops and put to use, and there needs to be better alignment between departments,” she said.
Buffalo City Metro spokesperson Bongani Fuzile said the municipality had begun addressing the issue following complaints, particularly at the Cambridge and Haven Hills cemeteries.
“The directorate responsible is currently attending to the overgrown vegetation at both cemeteries. Staff are busy cutting at both cemeteries,” he said.
Fuzile said cemetery maintenance was conducted quarterly, with Cambridge and Haven Hills last serviced in December 2025 and January 2026, respectively.
“The team responsible started a second cutting quarterly cycle in mid-March and it is ongoing,” he said.
However, he acknowledged several challenges affecting maintenance.
“The department responsible faces challenges of inadequate security which results in frequent break-ins, theft of equipment and vandalism,” Fuzie said.
He also cited operational setbacks such as equipment and vehicle breakdowns, as well as changing weather patterns that accelerated vegetation growth.
“The other challenge experienced is constant breakdowns of equipment and fleet.
“Climate change also poses a challenge in weather patterns where we have more rainfall outside the rainy seasons,” Fuzile said.
The municipality confirmed there was no dedicated budget for cemetery maintenance, with staff required to balance upkeep alongside burials and exhumations.
“There is no dedicated budget and maintenance is done by the cemetery staff who are also responsible for burials and exhumations,” he said.
Fuzile said plans were under way to improve conditions, including introducing 24-hour security at cemeteries and reducing the grass-cutting cycle.
Daily Dispatch