All of Kimberley’s historic cemeteries have suffered from vandalism and little or zero municipal maintenance over the last 30 years, but none have come as close to being virtually destroyed as the Gladstone cemetery on Kenilworth Road has.
It is the Gladstone cemetery that was visited regularly by tourists, and especially those on the very popular Ghost Tour that ended at Frankenstein’s grave.
Apart from the destruction of graves, headstones and crosses, anything resembling metal has been removed for resale to scrap-metal merchants. Hundreds of granite and marble headstones have been stolen for re-sale by unscrupulous persons in that particular industry.
Many graves have been dug open under the memorial stones in search for possible wealth buried with the deceased, those responsible probably believing that the bodies are just under the surface. To get underneath, the memorials have been forcibly moved and thus destroyed.
Lack of maintenance, especially these last 15 years, has ensured a perpetual jungle most of the time. On one occasion a team allocated to clean up did about a quarter of the work and then set fire to what they had not cleared. This resulted in the majority of the slate headstones shattering due to the heat.
An entire corner in the north-east has been systematically searched by zama zamas (illegal miners) for the shiny stones, and the graves and headstones in that area no longer exist. They are gone forever.
Digging is still ongoing in this regard.
The metal fences and crosses placed on the 1899-1902 war victim graves in 1998-’99 by the Battlefields Route committee for easy identification have all been stolen.
One of the main reasons for the halting of the Kimberley Ghost tour was that visiting the Gladstone Cemetery had become too dangerous for visitors, especially at night. It is bad enough visiting during the day.
There are community pathways going through the cemetery and the fence is no more. A burst water pipe has allowed reeds to flourish, and flourish they have. A well-used road leads from the main tar road to where the zama zamas are working.
It is an absolute shame that the Gladstone Cemetery, and some others in Kimberley, reached this stage and the municipality, police, Commonwealth War Graves, and the community in general should all hang their heads in absolute shame.
There is no excuse for the desecration or vandalism of graves in any culture or community.
- – Steve Lunderstedt, author and historian. (Article shortened from original post on Facebook Kimberley Infrastructure)
