Gauteng's controversial Covid-19 graves 'quietly' covered up

The more than a dozen Covid-19 graves that were dug up and unveiled by former Gauteng health MEC Bandile Masuku in Tshwane in preparation for burial during the first wave of the coronavirus last year have been covered up.

But the City of Tshwane, which is responsible for the gravesite in Honingnestkrans near Wonderboom, north of Pretoria, says all the graves were used for pauper burials and no Covid-19 related funerals were conducted there.

In July last year Masuku caused a stir when he invited media to unveil a number of empty graves at Honingnestkrans Cemetery which he said were part of the 24,000 graves planned for that cemetery. This was done at the height of the first wave of the Covid-19 pandemic with Gauteng expecting thousands of deaths from the virus.

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The unveiling caused an uproar among the public, triggering fears that the government had thrown in the towel in its fight against the pandemic, which at the time had killed 403 people in Gauteng. Since then, 5,824 people in the province have perished at an average of 30 deaths daily.

Sowetan visited the Honingnestkrans gravesite this week and found about 15 of the empty graves that Masuku showcased had been closed. Grass had started to grow on top of the unmarked graves. According to employees at the cemetery, the graves were “miraculously” covered without any burials.

“This is one of the least busy cemeteries in Tshwane and it is very small. In December there was only one funeral and it was not of a Covid-19 victim. I haven’t seen any such funerals here,” said a worker.

The employee said Masuku’s graves were left open for a few days and were later closed without anybody being buried there. The cemetery is mostly used by the nearby rural community.

Grass grows on the now-covered Covid-19 graves e more than a dozen Covid-19 graves which were dug up in Pretoria, raising wide-spread criticism. (Bongani Shilubane)

Gauteng health department spokesperson Kwara Kekana distanced her department from the issue, saying graves were the mandate of municipalities.

Tshwane municipality spokesperson Goitsemang Molaeng said: “No grave was closed without burials. The suspicion is that the person [reporter] is referring to the graves that were used for pauper burials [unknown bodies] as they don’t have flowers or grave markers on them, but all the graves were used for our normal burials, pauper and indigent burials.” She added that the site has a capacity of 24,000 graves.