MBABANE CEMETERY FEES UP FROM E600 TO E3 220

MBABANE – The Municipal Council of Mbabane has hiked the cemetery fees from E600 to E3 220, with effect from April 1, 2023.

This is an increase of 433.3 per cent. The increase in user fees was confirmed by the Information Public Relations Officer, Lucky Tsabedze. The fees have been gazetted in Legal Notice No.18, 2023. According to Tsabedze, the increase was necessitated by that council had outsourced the services. He said all along, council was incurring the costs on behalf of customers, adding that it would now be required for the clients to assist in paying the fees. “It is too costly for the council which has been paying the fees for the benefit of the customer,” he said.

Tsabedze stated that the gazette allowed for the council to charge E1 000 for digging a grave, which was E600 before. According to Tsabedze, the costs of digging a grave had escalated exponentially. Furthermore, he stated that the council had added a purchase of plot cost of E1 200, which was not charged before. This cost, he said, covered the maintenance of the graveyard. “In the past council paid the costs of the cemetery maintenance.”
He said this was a long-term contribution towards the council’s costs. Tsabedze said the cost was a once-off payment. Another cost of E300 for back filling and compacting has been added.

“The council is taking it upon itself, that not only will it supervise that a family has done the back filling and compacting well, but the cost will be on the council,” he added. He said they wanted all the graves to be up to standard as some sank within two weeks, due to that they were not well compacted. Tsabedze said another cost that had been added was that of general maintenance, which was E300 and the grave marking, which would be paid separately for uniformity.

The charge for a grave marker is E120. All these amounts add up to the new fee of E3 200. Tsabedze said the council had an Indigence Policy and through it recognised that there were families that were disadvantaged and did not have funds and these would be provided for under the policy. Previously, he said relatives for needy persons were buried for free and going forward, the families would pay E300.

Exempted

He said the Indigence Policy was guided by certain aspects, including the involvement of their social welfare office under the council. Also, he said there were committees and structures which were there to approve whether the deceased person was indigent. Tsabedze said the indigent persons were exempted from all the other fees. Meanwhile, burying a child will now cost E1 670, from E450. The purchase of a plot for a child will cost E600, digging of the grave will cost E500 and back filling and compaction E150.

Other costs will be for general maintenance of the cemetery and grave marker, which are the same amount paid by adults. Indigent persons burying a child will be required to pay E150. Other user fees which are expected to increase are the parking fees which would cost E3.50 for 30 minutes, with a maximum of four hours. The fees are increasing from E2.50.


 

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