Grave mistake: Verulam cemetery becomes a disturbing hotspot
Residents say men have repeatedly used Wick Street Local Cemetery to watch pornography and masturbate near graves, while wider concerns over theft, dumping and vandalism continue to trouble South African burial grounds.
Residents living near a cemetery in Verulam, KwaZulu-Natal, say they have been forced to confront a disturbing pattern of behaviour in a place meant to be reserved for mourning, remembrance and respect.
The complaints centre on Wick Street Local Cemetery, where men are allegedly watching pornography on their mobile phones and masturbating on or near graves and tombstones. Residents say the behaviour has continued for months, despite efforts by municipal workers and members of the public to chase the men away.
The latest complaints were made on Monday morning after Project 360, a local security and cleaning company, contacted Reaction Unit South Africa for assistance. The residents’ reports describe a cemetery that has become a regular meeting place for alleged offenders who return even after being confronted.
According to the information given to Reaction Unit South Africa, the alleged incidents have been taking place since January. Residents say as many as four different men have been seen visiting the cemetery during the day and in the evening. Some of the reported acts have allegedly taken place in full view of members of the public.
The presence of children in nearby residential complexes has added to residents’ anger. They say the sound from the pornographic videos can be heard beyond the cemetery walls and reaches homes where children live.
“They claim the audio from the pornographic videos can be heard by children living in nearby residential complexes,” said Rusa.
Residents have reportedly tried to intervene, but the alleged offenders are said to return to the cemetery. The repeated visits have left people living nearby concerned that warnings and informal attempts to remove the men have done little to solve the problem.
The issue is not simply about what is happening inside the cemetery. It is also about the condition of a public space that residents say is becoming increasingly difficult to protect. Cemeteries are places where families expect to visit without fear, clean graves, leave flowers and remember relatives. When people use them for acts that have nothing to do with remembrance, the damage is felt not only by those who witness it but also by families whose loved ones are buried there.
Reaction Unit South Africa said its drone pilot would carry out regular aerial patrols over the cemetery. Reaction officers would be sent when required. The patrols are intended to give residents and municipal workers a way to monitor parts of the cemetery that may otherwise be difficult to watch from the ground.
The planned patrols also point to a wider concern: the cemetery appears to have become vulnerable because people can enter, remain there and return without being stopped for long. Different parts of the cemetery are reportedly being used at different times of the day and evening, making the problem harder to control through occasional visits alone.
Residents now want the graves to be treated with dignity and respect. They say a cemetery cannot be allowed to become a place where people feel free to behave as if they are in a private entertainment venue.
The complaints from Verulam have also drawn attention to other problems that have affected cemeteries around South Africa. In some areas, burial grounds have been targeted by criminals who remove tombstone slabs and metal plaques. In others, families have found graves damaged, memorial walls broken and cemetery grounds neglected.
At Ethembeni Memorial Park in Lincoln Meade, Pietermaritzburg, a resident discovered that a tombstone slab covering a family member’s grave had been removed. The heavy slab was close to the gate, leaving the family questioning how thieves managed to take it away.
“I am so disappointed. What happened to people’s consciences? We buy graves [plots] that [cost a lot of money] and put tombstones for our loved ones, but things end up like this
The resident also said she had been left with the cost of repairing the damage.
“How [did] the[thieves] make it out with the slabs which are so heavy, and my [loved one’s grave] was next to the gate? I am very sad because I have taken the [little money] that I have to repair the damage,” she said.
Funeral industry representatives in Pietermaritzburg said thieves appear to target slabs because they can be removed and sold or reused. One funeral-services representative said a slab could cost about R7000. He said criminals usually leave headstones behind because the writing makes them more difficult to resell, while plain slabs can be used for other purposes.
Another funeral-services representative said similar reports had come from Mountain Rise Cemetery and Crematorium as well as Ethembeni Cemetery. He said removing a slab was not a task for one person. It could require several people and a vehicle, especially when the thieves wanted to move the stone through a gate without attracting attention.
Families who pay for graves and memorials are left carrying the financial and emotional burden. A damaged tombstone is not simply a broken object. It may carry the name, dates and history of a person’s life. For relatives, repairing it can be expensive, while leaving it damaged can make a place of mourning feel abandoned.
Security problems are repeatedly mentioned when cemetery vandalism is reported. Poor fencing, broken gates, long grass, insufficient patrols and a lack of regular maintenance can create openings for criminal activity. The same gaps can also allow cemeteries to be used as shortcuts, hiding places, meeting points or dumping grounds.
In parts of the country, residents have complained that rubbish is being discarded on or near graves. Household waste, building material and other refuse can cover pathways and make it harder for families to reach burial sites. Where a cemetery is unfenced or poorly maintained, illegal dumping can grow into a daily problem, changing the character of the grounds and deepening the sense that the dead are being forgotten.
Cemeteries have also been reported as places where homeless people sleep, where drug deals take place and where metal objects are stolen from graves and memorials. Brass, copper, iron fencing and other valuable materials can be removed and sold. Memorial walls have been damaged in some places when criminals break into niches containing ashes.
The problems can reinforce one another. A cemetery with broken fencing is easier to enter. A cemetery with poor lighting is harder to patrol. A cemetery covered in long grass and rubbish gives offenders more places to hide. Once families stop visiting because they fear being mugged or attacked, there are fewer witnesses to report damage and fewer people able to keep an eye on the graves.
Some cemeteries have also been associated with sex work and sexual activity. Prostitutes and clients, as well as other people seeking privacy, have in some areas used isolated burial grounds because they are quiet and poorly monitored. The alleged behaviour in Verulam is different in its reported form, but it raises the same basic concern: a cemetery can become vulnerable when it is treated as an unmonitored space rather than as protected ground.
For relatives, the details are painful because the graves remain connected to living families. A mother, father, child or partner may have been buried at the site, and the family may still visit regularly. Discovering that people have used the area for sexual activity, watched pornography beside graves, dumped rubbish or stolen parts of a tombstone can feel like a direct violation of that person’s memory.
The response in Verulam will now depend on whether aerial patrols are followed by regular ground patrols, quicker intervention and stronger cooperation between the municipality, security companies and residents. Residents have already shown that they are willing to report what they see. They want the authorities responsible for the cemetery to ensure that complaints lead to lasting action rather than temporary removals.
The cemetery’s location near residential complexes makes the issue more urgent. Families should not have to worry about children hearing explicit material from a burial ground, while people visiting graves should not have to confront behaviour that leaves them distressed or afraid.
The planned drone patrols may make it harder for the alleged offenders to go unnoticed. But residents are asking for more than surveillance. They want the cemetery to be cleaned, secured and maintained as a place where the dead can rest and the living can grieve without being exposed to criminality, indecency or neglect.
Until that happens, Wick Street Local Cemetery will remain a symbol of a wider struggle facing burial grounds across South Africa: the struggle to protect the dignity of the dead in spaces where security failures, vandalism, dumping and other forms of abuse have been allowed to take root.
