Chantelle Benjamin

Johannesburg Metro Editor

JOHANNESBURG will run out of cemetery space within nine years at the present death rate, so the city is spending R30m on the development of two new cemeteries.

Already, 27 of the city’s 33 existing cemeteries are filled to capacity, with the city encouraging families to use grave sites for second burials.

"We realised we had to develop cemeteries in regional areas because many of the cemeteries in the city were full," said City Parks marketing and communications manager Jenny Moodley.

The last cemetery to be developed in Johannesburg was Avalon in Soweto in 1972.

All burial sites in Alexandra have reached capacity with only secondary spaces left — for the burial of a body on top of another one.

Johannesburg saw a surge in deaths due to HIV/AIDS a few years ago but the numbers have since stabilised at about 21000 deaths a year, according to Moodley. "We have factored in the present death rates with a 10% escalation rate," she said.

The biggest cost with cemeteries was infrastructure, she said. "They require comprehensive road systems, storm water, sewer and irrigation systems."

The land also has to be of good quality. "We cannot use landfills or land with a high water table as that could see graves shifting," she said.