Throughout the centuries, mankind has been laid to rest in various ways. The following represent options currently available in the City of Johannesburg:
- Standard first burials: New grave allocated to the family of the deceased.
- Second Interments: 2nd and 3rd burials: Available to family members, who choose to bury 1 or 2 additional family members in the same grave.
- Reduction burials: Involve the exhumation of remains into a small coffin, which is then buried again, allowing additional burial space in the same location.
- Cremation: A family receives ashes of the deceased and decides how to best honor the memory of their dearly departed thereafter.
Joburg residents are encouraged to consider alternative burial methods to ensure that there is enough burial space for future generations. Even though the City currently has sufficient burial space this might not be the case in the future as there is increasingly competition for available land as potential burial space can be used for housing, building of schools and businesses.
Other factors contributing to insufficient burial land are:
• Increasing population
• An increase in internal and external migration
• Relatively high death rates in the City of Johannesburg
• Limited financial resources
• Limited land for cemeteries.
