City of Johannesburg Media Advisory
Councillor Margaret Arnolds, Member of the Mayoral Committee for Community Development, City of JohannesburgWednesday, 13 January 2021 City Parks & Zoo prioritises sunken graves in Olifantsvlei cemeteryJohannesburg City Parks and Zoo (JCPZ), the custodians of open spaces including cemeteries is appealing to communities to report any sunken graves of their loved ones who were recently buried in Olifantsvlei cemetery. The heavy rains in the city has resulted in the flooding of newly used graves. Family members are urged to please visit graves to determine any damage caused by the flooding.JCPZ staff and contractors are on stand-by to assist with the …
Some thoughts at year-end
As we come to the end of a year that none of us could have imagined on 1 January, it’s time to stop for a moment and give some thought to what we and our clients have been through in 2020. Covid-19 has brought with it human suffering on a scale that no one could have been prepared for, and has put our business under strain in many ways. From a management point of view, we’re working hard to steer the business through this social crisis and, as you know, we’ve appointed a Chief Executive Officer and a Sales and …
A sombre farewell to Tshegofatso Pule
Female funeral director speaks out against gender-based violence and says #WomensLivesMatter Johannesburg, : Friends, family and the Soweto community again had to confront the grim reality of gender-based violence as Tshegofatso Pule was laid to rest this morning. The 28-year-old, who was eight months pregnant at the time of her death, was found stabbed in the chest and hanging from a tree in open veld near Durban Deep, Roodepoort on Monday. Due to Covid-19 restrictions, the funeral ceremony was held at her home in Meadowlands, where heartbroken loved ones struggled to come to terms with her murder. “This is a …
A unified response to Covid-19 requires more of us
Since the Covid-19 pandemic took hold, South Africans have been praised for their unified response to the crisis. It’s easy to bask in this recognition and celebrate it in the social media, but unity goes deeper than that. In a recent television interview, I made reference to some of the funeral rituals practiced in the communities we serve in Soweto and southern Johannesburg and, sadly, this was ridiculed in the social media. We need to do better. If we are to be unified in the face of this crisis, we need to make the effort to understand how it is …
The Mabindisas breathe life into the funeral business
The couple have applied their respective skills to resurrecting their defunct family funeral parlour and ensuring it flourishes Vuyo and Nkateko Mabindisa have breathed life into a third-generation funeral parlour business in Soweto and transformed it into a thriving powerhouse. City Press met the Mabindisas at one of their offices in Dube, Soweto, to discover how they have made a success of the business of death. Nkateko is an accountant by profession and Vuyo is a qualified teacher. He took over the running of the family business 12 years ago. Nkateko comes from a family of educators. Her sibling and …