There was happiness all round when the Rebecca Street Crematorium in Pretoria West was reopened after being dormant for close to 17 months.
The City of Tshwane Rebecca Street Crematorium was suspended due to maintenance work and other related work.
Maintenance work was carried out to ensure that the city meets the standards and requirements of environmental compliance.
This facility, which is an essential service for the residents of Tshwane, has been closed for approximately 18 months. During this time,
families faced considerable financial strain and inconvenience, as they were forced to travel to alternative facilities outside the city.
City of Tshwane Mayor Dr Nasiphi Moya was at the ceremony to reopen the crematorium, and she said the following:
“We started the journey to reopen the crematorium a few months ago with a committee representing the people of Laudium because its closure has inconvenienced the residents of Tshwane in general for the past 17 months.”
The Mayor further said the following:
“Members of the Laudium Rebecca Street Crematorium Committee approached the City of Tshwane when they realised that we were failing them and they decided back then that they were not only going to blame us, but that they were also going to work with us to rectify the situation,” she said.
“We are in a joyful mood that today we are able to hand back the crematorium facility to the people of Laudium and all other people who use it,” said the Mayor.
“I was responsible for the political oversite to ensure that the crematorium functions.
The initial project deadline for completion was December 2024.
I am pleased to confirm that we have been successful in ensuring that this deadline is met,” she said.
She said the crematorium has since undergone significant refurbishment and upgrades aimed at enhancing operational efficiency and ensuring compliance with environmental regulations.
These improvements reflect the City of Tshwane’s commitment to delivering reliable and sustainable public services. The mayoral executive is committed to providing responsive service delivery that brings dignity and respect to our communities.
“We thank members of the Rebecca Street Crematorium Committee, consisting of 15 organisations, that have walked the path with us for the past year to ensure that we are able to finalise the project,” said happy Mayor Mayo.
Tushan Padayachee of the Rebecca Street Crematorium Committee said he truly appreciates the reopening of the crematorium, especially from a humanitarian point of view because from now going forward the costs and depression that the people had to go through while trying to access a crematorium were now something of the past.
“We are grateful that the City of Tshwane is living up to its Constitutional mandate to deliver services and we are very thankful about the fact that the doors of the City of Tshwane at the highest level are now open to us,” he said.
Ward 3 Councillor Malesela Rakabe confessed that though he has not been affected by the closure of the crematorium as he has never used it, he has always been giving his support to those who made efforts to ensure the reopening of the crematorium.
“We must embrace the crematorium as part of our diversity as South Africans because though black people were not affected so much, the majority of the residents of Laudium were negatively affected by the closure of the crematorium and I am happy that today it has been reopened,” said Rakabe.
Tshwane DA spokesperson for Agriculture and Environmental Management Marika Kruger-Muller told Tshwane Talks that she is excited about the reopening of the crematorium because the community that was using the facility before it was closed was up to now suffering a lot because of the means they had to use to travel far in order to access a crematorium.
“The facility is not only for one specific religion but is open to anyone who wants to use it, and I am looking forward to the changes that will be happening here at the crematorium and I am also looking forward to working together with a community that has stood together with the municipality to make things happen in instances where services were not rendered on time,” she said.