Residents from Chatsworth and surrounding areas, who have been unable to access the services at the Mobeni Heights Crematorium, are up in arms over the facility’s lack of functionality.
Suran Gounden and Lavinia Moodley of the Chatsworth and District Civic Federation as well as the chairperson of the Havenside Civic Association, Rocky Naidoo, recently headed to the crematorium for an oversight visit.
Gounden said: “Over the past 10 years, the crematorium has been unable to provide basic services as the incinerators are not functional or functioning at minimal capacity. A new incinerator was installed a few years ago and we have since learned that the said incinerator is not functioning effectively.
“We are informed that it takes four hours for a body to be cremated. Residents then have no other option but to use private facilities at a higher cost and travel long distances, despite costs at Mobeni Heights Crematorium being reasonable. There were also allegations of allocated monies being misspent.”
Naidoo said they were assured that a new incinerator would be installed within the financial year. He said: “We are pleased that we could bring some relief to our residents. We demand better for our people and we will continue the fight for the rights of our residents.”
In 2020, Mobeni Heights Crematorium welcomed the installation of a “state-of-the-art” cremator. The municipality confirmed that the cremator was imported from the United States and boasted modern technology that would see it electronically controlled and remotely monitored 24/7 through the Ethernet.
However, many residents were sceptical as to how the equipment would benefit the community.
One resident, Dylan Naidoo, said: “The state of the functionality at our facilities is nothing short of pathetic. In recent times, residents have to account for additional costs that involve families heading all the way to the nearest crematorium which is in Clare Estate.
“Rather than mourning the loss of loved ones, they have to make arrangements to head all the way there when we as Chatsworth residents could easily make use of the facilities that we already have here. We appreciate funeral parlours doing their best to accommodate families during their times of bereavement but we would be a lot more satisfied with a working facility here.”
The eThekwini Municipality was contacted for feedback, however, none was received at the time of print.
