Garbage heaped on the dead

By Vuyisile Hlatshwayo

Inscribed on the tombstone of a white settler, William Crowie, whose remains have been lying at the colonial whites’ only cemetery in the city of Manzini for 62 years, are the words “Peace Perfect Peace”. 

But with the heap of garbage that has encroached into the graveyard for tens of settlers, it is debatable if the peace is still perfect. Crowie must be turning on his grave in Manzini, the commercial mecca of eSwatini, as his final resting place is being overrun by litter. 

Right behind the decorative concrete wall fence of Manzini Cemetery on Mancishane Street in the Central Business District (CBD) lies piles of trash accumulated against the wall fence covered with creepers making the trail of garbage unnoticeable to people walking past unless they stop and crane their necks to scan the landscape architecture of the oldest cemetery. 

When Inhlase visited the oldest cemetery, it found it in a filthy and unsightly condition. Already turned into an illegal dumpsite in the CBD, it was littered with textile waste, plastics, paper dishes, rubble, empty bottles, cans, etcetera. 

The Manzini Cemetery, developed over 100 years ago, is a significant part of the Manzini city’s colonial-era landscape architecture of Boer [Afrikaner] and British settler colonialism, reflecting the racial segregation of burial sites between Europeans and “natives.” The Old Zakhele Township cemetery behind Skoom Location, now without a fence and overgrown with vegetation, was designated for the African and Coloured communities. 

Despite this segregation, the colonial administrators ensured that graves on both sides were kept tidy, as noted by Casey Golomski in his essay “Urban Cemeteries in Swaziland: Materialising Dignity.” This respect for the dead is evident in epitaphs like that of Crowie, whose headstone reads “Peace Perfect Peace” and marks his life from August 17, 1908, to February 6, 1962.

The current deplorable state of the cemetery, litter-strewn and desecrated, is not only a blight on the city’s image but also a detriment to tourism. Bush Travel Tours organizes the Manzini Eco-City Tour, which includes visits to several historical sites in the city. The two-hour tour, offered as a walking or shuttle experience, aims to educate visitors about the city’s rich history. The shocking presence of rubbish at the cemetery is a handicap to this tourism mission.

This issue is particularly shocking given that the municipality employs full-time street cleaners who work seven days a week. One cleaner, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed that their duties include cleaning public places within the city and surrounding areas daily. 

When Inhlase reached out to MCM spokesperson, Mathokhoza Thwala for comment via WhatsApp, he did not respond to the specific questions save for gloating about the achievements of the city.

“If truth be told, Manzini city is one of the best in terms of cleanliness. We also receive many accolades about it from in and outside the country. Lidolobha is generally clean compared to what I’ve seen elsewhere…” said Thwala. He stopped short of reminding Inhlase about the recent appointment of MCM chief executive officer, Lungile Dlamini, as the new vice-president of International City/County Management Association (ICMA) of the Southern hemisphere.

Despite these claims, the growing population in Manzini has led to an increase in municipal solid waste. According to the MCM Annual Report 2022/2023, Manzini has a night time population of 35,000 and a daytime population of approximately 110,537. The city generates 35 tonnes of municipal solid waste (MSW) daily, as reported by the African Clean Cities Platform (ACCP) in 2024. Of this, 30 tonnes are taken to the Manzini controlled dumpsite, while 2.5 tonnes are processed at the Manzini Buy Back Centre. The remaining waste ends up in unofficial dumpsites. Waste composition data indicates that municipal solid waste accounts for 25.5%, healthcare risk waste 15%, garden waste 10%, construction waste 3%, food waste 45%, and liquid waste 1.5%.

Under the watch of the local authority, the city cemetery, nestled between Government Flats, Summer Place Building, and Sunway Store, has become an unofficial dumpsite. This situation persists despite the proximity of the Manzini Police Station, which operates 24/7, highlighting a failure to enforce the Environmental Management Act of 2002, the Waste Regulations 2000, and The Litter Regulations 2011, all of which prohibit littering in public places. 

Inhlase could not get a comment from the police after the Russell Mmiso Dlamini-led government banned all government departments from giving information to online publications.

The Environmental Management Act of 2002 explicitly prohibits waste disposal in a manner that leads to littering. Violators, upon conviction, are liable to fines up to E5,000 or imprisonment for up to six months, or both. The Litter Regulations 2011 further prohibit dumping litter in any public place or water body in eSwatini, with fines specified for offences. 

When contacted via WhatsApp for comment, Housing and Urban Development minister Apollo Maphalala responded briefly, promising to provide more details after consulting further. “Ordinarily, municipalities have routine maintenance programmes for public spaces. Litter and overgrowth are ongoing issues due to irresponsible human behaviour and nature, respectively. Maintenance is therefore not a once-off,” he said. 

In a follow up response shared by minister via WhatsApp, the municipality management acknowledged that these two oldest cemeteries are untidy unlike the three others mentioned in the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development First Quarter Performance Report. They blamed individuals including those with mental illness for littering in the public places.  

“This affects various areas including the cemetery below the police station and the cemetery along Stanley Street near Ludwala Shopping Complex. We are making every effort to ensure these areas are cleaned again before the end of the current quarter. We are working on a lasting solution to address the increasing challenge of the presence of persons with mental illness in our city,” read the message.

The Eswatini Environment Authority (EEA), responsible for enforcing these laws, also shares some blame for the littering in Manzini. EEA chief executive officer Gcina Dladla acknowledged the Authority’s duty to work with local municipalities but emphasised that it is ultimately the municipalities’ responsibility to enforce waste disposal laws. Dladla expressed surprise at the state of the cemeteries and noted that municipalities have resources to maintain them. 

He revealed that the EEA plans to train Manzini’s street cleaners to act as litter wardens, empowering them to enforce litter regulations.

“When they see a person littering, they are now going to take action. They will take particulars of culprits so that they can be prosecuted. These are the initiatives that we’re looking at to solve the littering problem. Another big challenge is that these things are not followed up. We shouldn’t be having illegal dumpsites in the urban areas,” Dladla noted. 

Yibutse Green Action executive director Musa Ndlangamandla, whose volunteer-based environmental initiative seeks to raise awareness about the importance of living in a clean environment, found it shocking that cemeteries have become dumpsites in the urban areas. 

“Cemeteries are very important places in terms of our social fibre as a nation. We want to preserve the dignity of our loved ones we have lost and also give comfort to the family members and the loved ones surviving them. We want to honour the departed ones by at least keeping spaces where they are buried environmentally sound and clean,” said Ndlangamandla.

He warned that littering and illegal dumping create the ideal conditions for the disease-carrying pests like flies, mosquitoes, roaches, and rodents. 

“This comes with a huge economic and social cost in terms of public health services,” he added.