MADOMBIDZHA - The community of Madombidzha, west of Louis Trichardt, is up in arms against an "illegal mortuary" that was built in a residential area despite their objections.

ANC ward councillor, Patrick Sikhutshi, who is also a resident in the area, said they were going to do their best to make sure that the mortuary does not operate on the same stand where it is situated now.

Sikhutshi said they had had a mass meeting at the Faith Mission Church in the area where more than 5 000 people, including the pastors, attended. Sikhutshi said all the people attending had agreed that they were against the mortuary, and not against the owners.

He said a memorandum would be drafted to the municipality so that they could address the plight of the residents. Pastors also pledged that they would call all stakeholders to come and sit down so that they could plead with them to get a more suitable venue for the mortuary.

Unlike what has been agreed before, the protest march has been suspended for now as they are sending a memorandum to the municipality. "We all agreed in the meeting that indeed the proper procedures had not been adhered to. We are optimistic that our concerns will be addressed," said Sikhutshi.

Sikhutshi said that the first time anyone became aware of the mortuary was when a structure was erected late last year. Neither the ward committee, nor he himself had been consulted. Two attempts to persuade the owner of the mortuary to relocate away from the residential area have failed.

It was later found that the stand belongs to a traditional leader, who resides in a nearby area. Sikhutshi said they informed the council about the matter six months ago. "According to the law, any business should be known by the municipality. We informed the council which did nothing for six months," he said.

Sikhutshi said they have established that a junior officer who had been asked to investigate the matter had given the owner permission to operate without the knowledge of the secretariat of the department. He accused the municipality of undermining the concerns of the community.

"In more than six meetings we staged as community, we pleaded that the mortuary should be moved. Even my opinion and my intervention as a council and community member were undermined," said Sikhuthsi.

Mirror's attempt to get comment from the spokesperson of the municipality proved fruitless, as it was said that he was not available in the office, at the time of going to press.