Funeral proceedings shift in the face of Covid-19 pandemic

WHILE the funeral industry never went under lockdown as it provides an essential service, it has not been business as usual.

Procedures have changed and according to a Montclair-based businesswoman, Zodwa Radebe, who runs a funeral parlour, most people are battling to come to terms with the changes.

“Some families struggle with keeping guests to 50 at most because traditionally, African mourners go out in numbers in support of the deceased’s family. I’ve also recently noticed that people are also not adhering to the time.”

“The rules are that the memorial service should be done within an hour, but people have not gotten used to this. We find ourselves having to enforce these rules, which is hard because we are very empathetic towards them. Another change is that the deceased is no longer allowed to stay at home overnight for the vigil, families have to now adjust to the fact that they are only brought in in the morning for viewing.”

“Some of our clients plead with us which is heart-breaking because regulations are in place and we cannot run that risk,” she said.

Radebe said that they have had to also adapt to newer ways of conducting business which include implementing safety measures in their offices, mortuary, equipment, hearses and cars.

“We’ve had to dig into our own pockets to ensure that we get the required items to conform to safety precaution standards such as personal protective equipment (PPEs), masks and sanitisers. We were also not using as many body bags for collections as we do now.”

“In fact, we are required to now use them for every collection we do, this is also another expense we’ve had to factor in. We also cannot ask the family to pay us for these additional costs as we understand that they come to us at a time of need and do what we can to ease the burden for them,” she said.

Radebe added that while they have so far had no interactions with Covid-19 related deaths, her staff is fully protected and covered from head to toe.

“We clean and sanitise our facilities regularly to disinfect so that the virus stands no chance,” she said. She appealed to the municipality to attribute more land for cemeteries as burial space is becoming scarce.

eThekwini spokesperson, Msawakhe Mayisela, said their focus currently is to flatten the curve, but said that some of the municipality’s 66 cemeteries throughout the city were going to reopen and use recycling burial methods to accommodate burials.

“We can accommodate over 6 000 deceased in singular burials. The municipality has burial plans in place namely: strategy one is that all our 66 cemeteries will be open for recycling and reopen of gravesites.”

“Strategy two is that surveys are being done in all cemeteries with land within the current boundaries. The third strategy is that cemeteries with potential for boundary extension are being identified and the fourth strategy is that the Cemeteries Land Acquisition report is to be tabled at the Exco meeting for adoption as soon as possible,” he said.

He said that the municipality has a functional crematorium in Tongaat, that is currently open for business and that they work with stakeholders in the industry of cemeteries and crematoria.

“Thus, stakeholders with private cemeteries and private crematoriums would indeed come to assist when needed. All the cemeteries are currently on standby for service,” he added.

FOR YOUR INFORMATION

As your local news provider, we have the duty of keeping you factually informed on Covid-19 developments. As you may have noticed, mis- and disinformation (also known as “fake news”) is circulating online. Caxton Local Media is determined to filter through the masses of information doing the rounds and to separate truth from untruth in order to keep you adequately informed. Local newsrooms follow a strict pre-publication fact-checking protocol. A national task team has been established to assist in bringing you credible news reports on Covid-19. For any comments or queries, contact the National Group Editor, Irma Green at irma@caxton.co.za or the Legal Adviser, Helene Eloff at  helene@caxton.co.za.

DID YOU KNOW?
Click on the words highlighted in red to read more on this and related topics.
To receive news links via WhatsApp or Telegram, send an invite to 061 876 3179
The Southlands Sun is also on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest – why not join us there?

Do you have more information pertaining to this story?
Feel free to let us know by commenting on our Facebook page or you can contact our newsroom on 031 903 2341 and speak to a journalist.

To receive our free newsletter click here

(Comments posted on this issue may be used for publication in the Sun)