Page 60 - KBHA Bulletin 10

57

The Wynberg Times: 3 September, 1898.

A SCANDAL
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THE CEMETERY QUESTION

The question of a cemetery for the Municipality of Kalk Bay and Muizenberg is
again to the front. That the present arrangement is recognised as a scandal and at the
same time a menace to the health of the inhabitants is proved by the discussion which
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took place at the Council meeting on the 25 ultimo when a letter was read from the
Resident Magistrate of Simon’s Town concerning the burial of an adult in the English
Church Cemetery at a depth of only four feet and that when the coffin was put into the
grave there was about three feet clear from the top, and further that the mourners
remarked on the unhealthy condition of the cemetery.

Councillor Hansen said he was certain that the position of the cemetery was
detrimental to the health of the people, and the council would only be doing its duty by
agitating for a new cemetery. It was impossible to go more than about four feet on
account of the rock.
Councillor Kleinschmidt said ever since he had been on the Council he had
advocated the apportioning of other ground for a cemetery, but had always been
outvoted.
The Mayor thought that such a state of things should not be allowed to exist, and
urged the necessity of a suitable site for a cemetery. Councillor Behr said it was
certainly detrimental to the Municipality for the dead to be buried at such a short
distance beneath the surface in such a prominent part of the village. Would it not, he
asked, be advisable to approach the Government, and obtain sanction for a suitable site.

Maitland having been suggested, Councillor Kleinschmidt pointed out that the
poorer classes could not afford to pay for the conveyance by train, and the Malays
would not allow their dead to be removed by rail. He maintained it would not be a
difficult matter to select a suitable site in the Municipality which would meet with the
approval of all.
The clerk was ordered to lay all the correspondence on the table at the next
meeting.

Early the following year a petition signed by 80 residents was presented to Council
urging that a cemetery be developed within convenient distance of all in the

municipality, as the Maitland Cemetery was too distant. This was sent on to the

Government with the request that it be given immediate attention. Months passed
without reply due to the absence of the Government’s Medical Officers on business