Cape Town - The Brodie Road Muslim Cemetery in Wynberg has had its first burial in 127 years.
For more than a century, the grounds lay vacant, with the last burial recorded in 1896.
The cemetery reopened on Friday, and the burial took place on Saturday.
The Muslim Judicial Council (MJC) welcomed the reopening of the historic cemetery.
In a statement, the MJC said historical documents showed that the land was provided to the Muslim community by the then-colonial governor in 1848. The oversight of the cemetery was designated to an Imam Badrodien, and, later, to the Yusufeyyah Masjid, after its establishment in 1867.
The cemetery can accommodate about 520 graves, but this figure is expected to be more.
The Yusufeyyah Masjid committee said the cemetery was the first burial ground established in 1848 for Muslims in the Wynberg area, after the abolishment of slavery.
Masjid secretary and Wynberg East Civic Association chairperson, Yunus Karriem, said: “There is generally a shortage of burial space in the Cape Metropole due to an ever-increasing population, and the pandemic exaggerated the need for burial space.”
MJC Muslim Burial Administration chairperson Sheikh Riad Fataar said: “We as a community have reclaimed that which has been made difficult for us in terms of burial space in the Western Cape.”
Fataar thanked all those involved in working together to see this realised.
In the joint statement, Sheikh Ebrahiem Moos of the Yusufeyyah Masjid committee said the City gave the green light for the cemetery’s reuse in September last year.
“The committee has been working tirelessly since then to prepare for burials. We are honoured and thankful for having been granted the opportunity to build on the legacy of our forefathers in seeing to the needs of our community,” the committee said in a statement.
shakirah.thebus@inl.co.za