CITY OF FRANCISTOWN COUNCIL (CEMETERY) BYE-LAWS
(under regulations 34 and 35)
(1st September, 1972)
ARRANGEMENT OF BYE-LAWS
BYE-LAW
1. Citation
2. Interpretation
3. Establishment of cemeteries
4. Burials in cemetery
5. Permit for burials
6. Burial fees
7. Dimensions of graves
8. Body to be buried in coffin
9. Covering of coffin or body
10. Graves to be numbered and burials registered
11. Memorial work
12. Exhumations and reopenings
13. Restricted number of burials in one grave
14. Hours of opening of cemetery
15. Closing of cemetery
16. Exercise of control by caretaker
17. Offences within a cemetery
18. Penalties
First Schedule – List of Cemeteries
Second Schedule – Burial Permit (Sesupo Sa Phitlho)
S.I. 63, 1972,
S.I. 111, 2019.
These Bye-laws may be cited as the City of Francistown Council (Cemetery) Bye-laws*.
*Originally made under the Township Act now repealed, these regulations have been continued under s 94(2) of the Local Government Act, 2013.
In these Bye-laws, unless the context otherwise requires
“adult” means a person other than a child;
“caretaker” means any person so designated by the council;
“cemetery” means a cemetery established under the provisions of bye-law 3;
“child” means a person under the age of 10 years;
“council” means the City of Francistown Council;
“council area” means the area of jurisdiction of the City of Francistown Council;
“memorial work” means any gravestone, monument, cenotaph, tablet or monumental inscription and any work ancillary thereto;
“City Clerk” means the City Clerk of Francistown.
3. Establishment of cemeteries
The areas of land defined in the First Schedule are established as cemeteries for the purposes of these Bye-laws.
No person shall bury or cause to be buried any body elsewhere within the council area than in a cemetery.
(1) No burial shall take place in a cemetery except under and in accordance with a permit issued by the City Clerk and on payment of the fees prescribed in bye-law 6.
(2) The permit shall be in the form set out in the Second Schedule.
(3) A person making application for a permit shall state
(a) the name, age and sex of the deceased;
(b) the religious denomination, if any, of the deceased;
(c) the place of death,
and his application shall be accompanied by a certificate of the cause of death signed by a medical practitioner or a duly certified copy thereof or, in the absence of such certificate, by the written permission of a magistrate or District Commissioner authorising the burial.
(4) The City Clerk may refuse the issue of a permit where the deceased died outside the council area and was not, prior to his death, a resident of the council area.
There shall be charged for the issue of a permit in accordance with the provisions of bye-law 5 burial fees of
(a) P120 in the case of burial of an adult;
(b) P95 in the case of a citizen child;
(c) P150 in the case of burial of a non-citizen adult; and
(d) P100 in the case of a non-citizen child:
Provided that the City Clerk may waive the payment of such fees in whole or in part where he is satisfied that the person responsible for the burial is unable to pay the full amount and may, additionally or alternatively, make arrangements for the payment of the fee in instalments, and, in the event of failure to comply with the terms and conditions of payment imposed by the City Clerk the outstanding balance owing shall forthwith be a debt due to the council and shall be recoverable in a court of competent jurisdiction:
Provided further that the City Clerk may waive the payment of such fees in whole or in part when the person responsible for the burial wishes to dig the grave himself and agrees to do so only after receiving authorisation from the City Clerk and undertakes to abide by specified conditions of siting and digging the grave as appear in bye-law 7 and as may be fixed from time to time by the council.
Unless the City Clerk otherwise directs, graves shall be of the following dimensions
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Length |
2,134 metres
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Width |
0,991 metres
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Depth |
1,828 metres.
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8. Body to be buried in coffin
Unless the City Clerk otherwise directs no burial shall take place unless the body of the deceased is enclosed in a coffin of solid and sound construction.
The caretaker responsible for the cemetery shall ensure that forthwith upon the placing of the coffin or body in a grave it is covered with earth until the grave is filled.
10. Graves to be numbered and burials registered
(1) All graves in a cemetery shall be allotted a number and all burials shall be registered in a register which shall be kept by the City Clerk.
(2) The register may be inspected by members of the public during office hours.
(1) No person shall erect on any grave any memorial work without permission in writing from the City Clerk and in accordance with such permission.
(2) Any person making application to the City Clerk for permission to erect any memorial work shall, if required to do so, furnish the City Clerk with plans or diagrams thereof in such degree of detail as he may specify and shall supply such details as the City Clerk may require as to the manner in which the work is to be executed.
(3) The City Clerk may refuse to grant permission for the erection of any memorial work if he is of the opinion that the memorial work would be unsightly or offensive or if it is not of a permanent and durable nature:
Provided that any person aggrieved by any decision of the City Clerk may appeal to the council.
(4) The council may take down and remove any memorial work which has been placed or erected within a cemetery without their authority or which is not maintained in an adequate state of repair and any cost incurred by the council in so doing may be recovered from the person who erected the work.
12. Exhumations and reopenings
Subject to the provisions of the Inquests Act, no person shall exhume or cause any body to be exhumed within a cemetery or reopen any grave without the consent of the council.
13. Restricted number of burials in one grave
Unless the City Clerk otherwise directs, not more than one adult, or two children, may be buried in any grave:
Provided that the body of a still-born child may be buried with the body of its mother.
14. Hours of opening of cemetery
A cemetery shall be open to the public between sunrise and sunset:
Provided that
(i) the City Clerk or the caretaker may from time to time authorise an earlier opening or a later closing;
(ii) nothing in this bye-law shall authorise members of the public to enter any building or enclosed space within a cemetery; and
(iii) children, unless accompanied by a responsible adult, may be excluded from a cemetery.
The council may close any cemetery, but any cemetery so closed shall continue to be a cemetery except that no burial may take place therein except on the authority of the council.
16. Exercise of control by caretaker
(1) Every person within a cemetery shall be subject to the direction and control of the caretaker who may, in addition, give reasonable directions as he thinks fit for the arrangements of funerals.
(2) No person shall resist or obstruct the caretaker in the execution of his duties or disobey any directions given under the provisions of this bye-law.
17. Offences within a cemetery
No person shall
(a) without the consent of the City Clerk or the caretaker be in any cemetery other than during the hours when the cemetery is open under the provisions of bye-law 14;
(b) destroy or injure any building, wall or fence in the cemetery or destroy or injure any tree or plant therein;
(c) put up any building in any cemetery or any work thereof;
(d) within a cemetery destroy, injure or deface any memorial work;
(e) within a cemetery play any game or sport;
(f) within a cemetery discharge any firearm except at a military funeral;
(g) disturb or annoy any person attending any funeral within a cemetery;
(h) within a cemetery shout or scream or behave in an indecent or immodest manner;
(i) enter a cemetery which is enclosed by a fence or wall other than through a gate or door; or
(j) allow any dog or livestock within a cemetery.
A person who contravenes the provisions of these Bye-laws commits an offence and shall be liable, on first conviction, to a fine not exceeding P500, and on a second or subsequent conviction, to a fine not exceeding P1000.
FIRST SCHEDULE
LIST OF CEMETERIES
(Bye-law 3)
No. 1 – Cemetery adjacent to the Tati River and west of the Railway Bridge within Riverside South Polling Ward which is shown more fully on Plan No.-108 (Riverside South Cemetery).
No. 2 – Cemetery near the Inchwe River and north of the Monarch Bridge and Road within the Monarch Polling Ward which site is shown more fully on Plan No.-107 (Monarch, Phase 5 Cemetery).
No. 3 – Cemetery northeast of the intersection of the Monarch Road and the Veterinary Offices Road within the Government Camp Polling Ward which site is shown more fully on Plan No.-106 (BDF Cemetery).
No. 4 – Cemetery south of the Maun Road and west of the Railway Reserve near the Nyangabgwe School within the Francistown Central Polling Ward which site is shown more fully on Plan No.-105 (Nyangabgwe Cemetery).
No. 5 – Cemetery north of the Palapye Road and south of the Matsiloje Road within the Francistown East Polling Ward and Known as Stand No. 1012, which site is shown more fully on Plan No.-104 (Matsiloje Cemetery).
No. 6 – Cemetery at Gerald along Shashe Mooke Road (Old and New Gerald Cemeteries).
SECOND SCHEDULE
BURIAL PERMIT
(Sesupo sa Phitlho)
(Bye-law 5(2))
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NUMBER: ………………………… NOMORO: ……………………….. |
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CITY OF FRANCISTOWN COUNCIL |
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Applicant’s Name Address of Applicant Name of Deceased Date of Death Place of Death Death Certificate (issued where and by whom and when) |
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Age |
Sex |
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Religious Denomination I certify that the information given above is true in every respect. ………………………………. |
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…………………………………….. |
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Fee: …………………….. |
Official Receipt No. ……………….. |
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Grave Number: …………………….. |
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……………………………….. |
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Date: ………………………… |