THE Ndjaba cemetery at Ongwediva has become the target of theft and vandalism
Helena Theofilus said she was shocked and traumatised when she visited her grandmother’s burial site only to discover that the granite slab placed on the grave has been stolen.
“We were visiting my grandmother’s grave site. We always do so on the day that she was buried each year. She died on five years ago and we have never seen anything like this before; it is really sad.
There were many other graves that have been vandalised apart from my grandmother’s tombstone. I feel very bad about what is happening at the cemetery. There should be proper security manning the cemetery, our loved ones are resting here. This is really not nice,” complained an emotional Theofilus.
“People should respect the memories of other people’s loved ones. We brought them here to rest in peace but now they are being abused.
The Ongwediva Town Council should take on their responsibility to ensure that the cemetery is guarded to ensure that no theft or vandalism happens there,” complained Hafeni Paulus, another resident.
The cemetery does not have proper security even though there is a huge wall surrounding it. People are up to no good these days, vandalising and even stealing tombstones is a shocking phenomenon. In the past, people respected burial sites. They were even afraid to even walk past such places, but now this,” added Paulus.
Ongwediva police station commander Elizabeth Nashandi confirmed to The Namibian this week that her office was called to attend to cases of vandalism in vandalism the Ndjaba cemetery.
“We are really concerned about the recent incidents and the council cemetery. Last week, we received reports of pieces of tombstone that were found outside the boundary wall of the cemetery. We went to pick them up. How those pieces got outside is still being investigated, because we found no one there. We have contacted the Ongwediva Town Council on the matter. This is not the first of such incidents, though in the past we had tombstones being stolen at the Oshakati cemetery and now Ongwediva.
Ongwediva Town Council’s spokesperson Jackson Muma said council was also just alerted of the incident by residents who visited the cemetery earlier this month.
Members of the public, who visited the cemetery on 6 February, allegedly found some headstones detached from their bases.
“The next day, officials went to assess the extent of the purported vandalism or possible theft of gravestones. They established that there is a natural process taking place at the cemetery where the earth at certain graves has settled, causing gravestones to shift, lose grasp and subsequently detach.
About five graves have been affected by this natural phenomenon,” Muma said.
Two pieces of a headstone were allegedly found outside the graveyard on Sunday and the police took them to Ongwediva Police Station following an alert from the public. It is not yet clear whether someone was trying to steal the pieces, however, investigations are underway to establish what exactly transpired.
“Council shall embark on the verification of the actual number of gravestones, which might need repair and resetting before tracing affected family members,” said Muma.
