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MOSSEL BAY NEWS - At a special Mossel Bay Town Council meeting held on Thursday, 19 July, revised increases in the cost of grave plots in cemeteries were voted on and accepted.

This came after a public outcry when it was announced last week that the cost of a plot in a cemetery would increase from R873 to R5 278 - approximately 500%. The costs of graves were also highly inflated.

Revised, more reasonable increases were presented at the special council meeting on Thursday and the majority of councillors agreed to them. However, it was noted in the meeting that the amended and new tariffs would be exposed to a public participation process in which members of the public can give their input.

Now the cost of a plot increases from R873 in 2017/18 to R1 056 in 2018/19, rather than R5 278.

The cost of R1 056 is subsidised by 80% by the municipality.

A child grave increases from R873 to R918, a single adult grave from R1 100 to R1 157 and a double adult grave from R1 604 to R1 687.

For indigents - households that earn R3 420 or less for the entire household - the costs increase from R121 last year to R127 for a child grave, R237 to R249 for a single adult grave and from R469 to R493 for a double grave.

For the poor - that is households that earn R6 840 or less for the whole household - a child grave will cost R350 and an adult single grave R700. This category for the poor was not included in the grave cost classifications previously.

All the increases are effective as from 1 July 2018 and people - in only three confirmed instances - who paid the 500% increases before the meeting held on 19 July - will be reimbursed, according to municipal manager Advocate Thys Giliomee.

Prior to the voting on the revised costs, DA councillor Niklaas Booisen said that it was only when he and other councillors had dealt with members of the public who were organising funerals and with funeral undertakers that the huge increase in cemetary plot and grave costs came to their attention.

He said that unfortunately the oversight mistake was the fault of the whole council and an apology for this was necessary. Booisen said: "We are not ashamed today to say it was our fault, but we have listened to people and sought a solution to stop the confusion and restore goodwill in communities."

Icosa party councillor Dawid Kamfer thanked Booisen for his concessions but said that he felt that cashstrapped citizens should not have to pay for graves. For them graves should be free.

In response, ANC chief whip, Councillor Jovan Bruinders, said nothing could be free - people had to pay something for a grave - but he asked for a caucus for the ANC councillors to discuss the proposed revised cost increases.

Speaker, Alderman Petru Terblanche, gave the ANC councillors 10 minutes to discuss the proposal and then return. Bruinders, on returning, suggested some revised changes to the cost increases.

He said that the ANC had not accepted the budget - that the budget did not look after the poor - and that the increases in the grave costs were simply another example of this.

Bruinders also said that besides the poor, the middle class was not being looked after and that it was the "milking cow" of the municipality, which was making profits from the tariffs ratepayers paid.

Only a handful of councillors voted in favour of the ANC's proposed grave costs as opposed to the majority which voted in favour of the revised costs presented by Booisen on behalf of the DA-led council at the meeting.

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• Grafpryse - 'Praat met die mense'
• Vergadering oor verhoging van grafpryse 
• Grafkoste 'n gatslag

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