The Funeral Practitioner’s Association on Sunday said it’s now considering purchasing coffins from neighbouring countries, saying they are struggling with supply.
With the country hit by a second wave of COVID-19 undertakers are seeing more and more bodies.
In the first week of this month, funeral parlours witnessed an increase of more than 70% in burials.
With the emergence of the second wave of COVID-19, the number of coronavirus-related deaths are growing at an alarming rate.
Most deaths have been reported in the Eastern Cape followed by the Western Cape, Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal.
The funeral industry said it’s running short of coffins as spokesperson Vuyo Mabindisa explained: “However, the South African Funeral Practitioner’s Association has investigated to see if we can get other suppliers in neighbouring countries.”
Mabindasa is also concerned about the delay in the issuing of death certificates, particularly in the Western Cape.
“The hospitals are delaying with the paperwork and by the time we get those papers, there is a lag at home affairs.”
Despite the extension of working hours at home affairs offices across the country, the organisation said the delay has a crippling effect on families since they need to claim from funeral policies.
