Nomtu Magalela stands knee-deep in a freshly-dug grave at Cambrian Cemetery in Boksburg, on Gauteng's East Rand. A few metres below her feet is the coffin of an unknown person who died a few years ago.
Nomtu Magalela is the only female grave digger in her team of four at Cambrian Cemetery in Boksburg, Ekurhuleni.Nomtu Magalela stands knee-deep in a freshly-dug grave at Cambrian Cemetery in Boksburg, on Gauteng's East Rand.The 56-year-old mother of two is clad in a blue City of Ekurhuleni overall, and her face is covered with a blue mask with an airflow valve in front.
Magalela looks on as a yellow excavator continues to dig more empty and ready graves. For her, this was just a “normal day” in the life of a grave digger. She is the only female grave digger in her team of four. On a typical day before the pandemic, Magalela’s team would do about seven grave reopenings. Most of their time was spent on digging new graves.“Fear will always be there, but it gets better - because when I’d be digging they would know when the coffin is near and when to stop.”
He said since the pandemic hit the country, it has been the “busiest I have been in all my years working as a grave digger”.
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