Boy has to be buried again

2008-03-04 08:05

Gloria Edwards

Johannesburg - An East Rand family are traumatised after they found out on Saturday at their little boy's funeral that his grave wasn't big enough for his coffin.

Dallyn de Jager, three, drowned last week in the shallow swimming pool at his parents' home in Nigel the day after his birthday.

At Dallyn's funeral the family was further traumatised when they had to widen and lengthen the grave before they could bury him.

Sean de Jager, Dallyn's father, told Beeld on Monday that because the grave apparently was too shallow as well, a court order had to be obtained to dig up the coffin to make the hole deeper.

De Jager said: "We'll have to make the grave deeper, otherwise it will open if it rains... We have to take out my child and bury him again."

He and other family members had to make the grave about 200mm wider and 500mm longer before they could fit Dallyn's coffin in it.

"It ruined the whole funeral," said De Jager.

According to Riekie Helberg of Doves undertakers in Nigel, the de Jagers ordered a special coffin which they hadn't had in stock and which was delivered only on Friday afternoon.

Coffin bigger than normal

"In the meantime, I had to tell the municipality to dig the grave. I asked for a normal, three-foot grave," said Helberg.

"We realised only on Saturday that the coffin was bigger than normal, and then the grave was not even the normal size. We also couldn't get hold of the municipality." She apologised on behalf of Doves.

Zweli Dlamini, spokesperson for Ekurhuleni metro council, said that graves were dug according to specifications provided by undertakers.

"It seems, however, as if there was a communication glitch between the council and the undertaker. We will investigate."

- Beeld