Council bans big headstones

BY their very grave nature, headstones are installed in a cemetery in order to preserve the memory of a loved one.
However, some headstones — also known as memorial stones, gravestones or tombstones — have been found to be offside by the City Fathers.
The Bulawayo City Council has since banned the erection of “oversized” headstones. From life-sized sculptors, to churches and portraits, cemeteries in Bulawayo are now filled with “bizarre” monuments.

“Bizarre may not be the correct term, however, we have of late seen the placement of unusual monuments. Once in a while oversized monuments have been erected with some of them looking like churches or some such other item of fancy,” BCC senior public relations officer Mrs Nesisa Mpofu said in a statement.

“For this reason, the Health Services Department has had to stipulate that tombstones may not exceed a height of one (1) metre.” Mrs Mpofu, however, explained that people were free to use any material that they think is suitable for a tombstone for their relative and this includes metal frames, cement or stoneware.

She further said the council would continue to control the positioning of tombstones in relation to the actual grave and surrounding ones.

“The cemetery supervisor has to ensure that the tombstone is properly mounted in the proper place and as such does see the tombstones before they are erected. The quality of the stone is, however, not determined by the supervisor,” she said.

A civil engineer from Bulawayo, John Chipayi, said the size and time of erecting of a tombstone has a direct impact on the grave.

“After excavation the soil has what are called air voids such that when you fill up the grave so the soil is not compacted back to its previous state automatically. With time these voids are filled and the soil is pushed down. If people quickly put a tombstone this is when they collapse because the soil is not compact enough. There is a void that is left between the soil and the tombstone so automatically it cracks,” said Eng Chipayi.

He advised people to erect tombstones after two rainy seasons so that the soil has the chance to compact and to prevent the stones from collapsing. He further said when tombstones are very large and are put up too soon, they can quickly fall apart.