Bulawayo residents who wanted their relatives to be buried at Athlone cemetery are angry that this is not happening. BCC has said that their digger at Athlone cemetery is not working. This means that no burials have been taking place at the cemetery. Instead, those destined for the cemetery are being sent to Luveve cemetery. There is just one problem, graves at the working cemetery are US$10 cheaper i.e. US$43 instead of US$53 but the city council is still charging people US$53 and sending them to the cheaper cemetery.

We had booked graves at Athlone for relatives sometime before.

When we wanted to bury one of our relatives there, we were informed there were no ready graves because the grave digging machine broke down. That is unfair and the council should have stand-by grave digging machines so as to avoid inconveniencing its clients.

One of the residents who spoke to CITE Zimbabwe

It’s not clear whether the city council will compensate those who have technically overpaid.