The local crematorium in eMalaheni cremated a homeless man at no cost after reading about a woman’s plea to give him a decent funeral.

Unieta Swanepoel’s plea on social media had a far-reaching effect, as the public also contributed money to help with the cremation costs, and now they want to know what happened to the money.

Swanepoel said the cremation was estimated to cost R10 000 and she paid R1 000 towards it.

She said the funeral home where Breedt’s body was held wanted R4 500 to release the body, and they took the R1 000 she paid in and R1 000 another woman paid directly to the funeral home.

“Another R500 was paid into my account and I used it to pay for diesel and airtime to organise everything,” she told WITBANK NEWS.

Swanepoel said she was now distancing herself from the funeral arrangements and, said a ceremony would be held for Breedt on Monday at a church in Stevenson Street.

“I just want to thank everyone who did help, and those who did not and withdrew over a post about me, that was me in the past I was really looking for help with Johannes,” she said.

Breedt died on June 17. According to his death certificate he died of natural causes.

Funds are needed to pay for a homeless man’s cremation
Read more here: https://t.co/h5S3aEyDWY#witbanknews #homeless #help #witbank #eMalahleni #helpthoseinneed

— WitbankNews (@WitbankN) June 23, 2025

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