KwaDukuza funeral parlours suffer loadshedding pressure

Loadshedding is crippling funeral parlours in KwaDukuza that are running at a loss owing to the high cost of generator fuel.

The countrywide crisis prompted the SA Funeral Practitioners Association to last week urge the public to bury their dead within four days to ease pressure on the industry.

However, local undertakers say they realise this advice was not achievable for most people.

Instead, they believe intervention from government is critical if they are to continue burying people with dignity.

North Coast spokesperson for the association, Thembinkosi Ngcobo, reiterated that four days was an impossible target due to the wait for insurance policies to pay out.

“Financially we are feeling the pain. Our job is critical, but all our profits are being burned up by generators,” said Ngcobo.

Sbongiseni Ngobese of Kangobese Funerals said if aid was not imminent the area would see both job losses and businesses closing.

Ngobese had already put six of his permanent staff on temporary employment.

“Filling up my generator costs about R1 300 a week, depending on the stage of loadshedding. This is not sustainable,” said Ngobese.

He said the normal storage time for bodies waiting to be buried ranged from a week to two weeks.

“Some insurance companies pay out in 24 hours, but others take up to seven days.”

Ngobese explained there were multiple hurdles to cross before a burial could take place, including collecting the body, the registration of death and booking of the gravesite.

Throughout this process the corpse must be stored correctly to prevent decay before the funeral.

Ceshel Ramsaran, director at Rambros Funeral Services, said mortuary fridges should not be off for more than an hour.

“We can survive one hour or two at most, but four hours is way too much. The work stops because we have to keep our fridges closed until power returns,” said Ramsaran.

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