Westpark Cemetery is a large cemetery in

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Demo ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

, and is the resting place of some of the country's well-known citizens. It is a non-denomination designated burial ground, and thus has Christian, Jewish, Muslim and Chinese burial areas. The Jewish section contains a Holocaust Memorial, erected in 1959. It was opened in 1942, and historically was part of one of Johannesburg's original farms, ''Farm Waterval'', which was purchased in 1887 by two Geldenhuys brothers in the hope of finding gold. While they did not find gold, Louw Geldenhuys employed Boer War veterans to build the

Emmarentia Dam Emmarentia Dam is a dam in Emmarentia, Johannesburg, South Africa. There are several dams that make up Emmarentia Dam, despite its allusion to the singular, with two small dams found upstream in the Johannesburg Botanical Gardens. History The E ...

, and leased smallholdings with fruit trees. In 1993, 13 hectares were donated to the city for public recreation and, eventually with the other sections, became the Johannesburg Botanic Gardens, Marks Parks Sports Club and the Westpark Cemetery. Today, the sprawling cemetery is the resting place of thousands of Johannesburg residents, and has separate Chinese, Muslim, Jewish, Christian and

SANDF The South African National Defence Force (SANDF) comprises the armed forces of South Africa. The commander of the SANDF is appointed by the President of South Africa from one of the armed services. They are in turn accountable to the Ministe ...

burial areas. Many ornate gravestones and

mausoleums A mausoleum is an external free-standing building constructed as a monument enclosing the interment space or burial chamber of a deceased person or people. A mausoleum without the person's remains is called a cenotaph. A mausoleum may be consi ...

can be found throughout the park. Westpark is an active cemetery, as burials are still allowed and performed.

Military plot

There are also specific areas for servicemen who have died in the line of duty. This cemetery contains

war graves War is an intense armed conflict between State (polity), states, governments, Society, societies, or paramilitary groups such as Mercenary, mercenaries, Insurgency, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violenc ...

of 617 Commonwealth service personnel of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, mostly burials from military hospitals and an airfield, besides 21 non-Commonwealth war graves and seven non-war graves that are in care of the

Commonwealth War Graves Commission The Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) is an intergovernmental organisation of six independent member states whose principal function is to mark, record and maintain the graves and places of commemoration of Commonwealth of Nations mil ...

. The Military Plot contains the Johannesburg Cremation Memorial to 69 Commonwealth service personnel cremated at Johannesburg's

Braamfontein Braamfontein (English: ''blackberry spring'', or more prosaicly ''blackberry springs''; also known as Braam) is a central suburb of Johannesburg, in South Africa, seat of the Constitutional Court of South Africa and some of South Africa's major c ...

Crematorium during the same war and is found directly behind the Cross of Sacrifice.
CWGC Cemetery Report – Johannesburg Cremation Memorial.

Notable interments

Beyers Naudé Christiaan Frederick Beyers Naudé (10 May 1915 – 7 September 2004) was a South African Afrikaner Calvinist Dominee, theologian and the leading Afrikaner anti-apartheid activist. He was known simply as Beyers Naudé, or more colloquially, ...

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–

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nurse and former first wife of

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. *

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– South African politician and anti-Apartheid activist *

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– freedom fighter, struggle icon, Parliamentary Councillor and adviser to President Nelson Mandela *

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– Greek-South African human rights lawyer *

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– Child

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activist *

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–

ANC The African National Congress (ANC) is a social-democratic political party in South Africa. A liberation movement known for its opposition to apartheid, it has governed the country since 1994, when the first post-apartheid election install ...

struggle veteran and Umkhonto we Sizwe commander *

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– Anti-apartheid struggle veteran *

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– well-known stage and screen actor, who was murdered execution-style with his fashion-designer friend, Richard Bloom *

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– lawyer, statesman and long-time political opposition leader against apartheid. *

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– famous South African poet and author * Simba Mhere (29 October 1988 – 31 January 2015) – South African/ Zimbabwean TV Personality *

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– Judge, World War II fighter pilot, DFC, DSO * Gisele Wulfsohn – South African photographer * Akhumzi Jezile – South African actor, television presenter and producer *

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– Judge, lawyer to Nelson Mandela *

Johnny Clegg Jonathan Paul Clegg, (7 June 195316 July 2019) was a South African musician, singer-songwriter, dancer, anthropologist and anti-apartheid activist, some of whose work was in musicology focused on the music of indigenous South African people ...

– British-born South African musician and anthropologist * Johannes van der Walt – South African wrestler known as the 'Gemaskerde Wonder' (Masked Wonder) * Gert Potgieter (tenor) – South African Tenor and Actor *

Mandoza Mduduzi Edmund Tshabalala (17 January 1978 – 18 September 2016), also known as Mandoza, was a South African kwaito recording artist. He was known for his contributions to the Kwaito genre and his numerous hit singles, including "Nkalakatha", ...

(17 January 1978 – 18 September 2016) – South African

kwaito Kwaito is a music genre that emerged in Soweto, Johannesburg, South Africa, during the 1990s. It is a variant of house music that features the use of African sounds and samples. Kwaito songs occur at a slower tempo range than other styles of h ...

musician *

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– South African television personality and news presenter * Prudence Nobantu Mabele (21 July 1971 – 10 July 2017) – one of first black South African lesbian woman and a leading HIV activist to live openly with HIV. * Richard Maponya –

n entrepreneur and

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– South African retired professional footballer.

References

{{Greater Johannesburg, hist 1942 establishments in South Africa Cemeteries in South Africa Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemeteries in South Africa Buildings and structures in Johannesburg