Funeral homes in small towns are being “ransacked” during a complete blackout when criminals use shrouds to rob funeral directors.
Elsabé Basilio, managing director of the National Association of Funeral Directors of South Africa (NFDA), said that by cutting the load for a long time, the perpetrators damaged the transformer, which made the backup battery in the alarm go flat.
“They then stole the electrical cables to the building, which allowed access all weekend or all night,” he said. “They are targeting corpse compressors, copper pipes, electric cables, faucets [and] even lower the device.”
Apart from the crime, the burden-vomiting also caused a burden in the funeral hall. People are asked to bury their loved ones as soon as possible so that the body does not rot, as maintaining cold storage while disposing of the burden is expensive.
‘Our target’
In December, Komani was without electricity for three weeks, Fort Beaufort for four days and Makhanda for two days, said Fred Drake, NFDA member for the Eastern Cape and Free State.
“What happened is that [criminals] who stole the substation and then the whole area went out for a day at a time while waiting for parts to fix it. That’s when they were [criminals] our target.”
A device costs about R47 000. “They sell it to bush operators everywhere, who are unlicensed and unregistered,” said Drake. “You can insure this thing, but because it’s a movable thing, you have to pay an individual premium and the premium is astronomical, so it’s not affordable.”
Basilio said that in certain areas, health inspectors are forcing NFDA members to have additional backup generators.
“One of our members had to buy nine additional generators, three of which had been stolen during an extended load shedding. One of the bases had been cut from the wall or, in one case, was badly damaged and would no longer work.
The local government will not issue a certificate of competence to this member board if it needs to be renewed. In these cases, the company must obtain additional security, which is another cost.
Hijackings are on the rise
In some areas, the risk of piracy has increased. “A funeral director will receive a call, during the release of the burden, to remove the deceased from the place of death. When the funeral director arrived at the address, he was hijacked,” said Basilio.
Drake added: “Actually we have to hire private security to go to certain areas to pick up the bodies and this is an additional cost that, once again, has an impact on the consumer.”
In September, his driver was hijacked during a power outage.
“They let him go with the vehicle because it’s a well-branded vehicle but left him in underwear and a shirt. There’s nothing left in the vehicle. The trolleys that we do pickups in, at R18 000 a pop, are gone. The insurance company won’t cover it. “
‘Bury your loved ones in four days’
This week, the South African Funeral Practitioners Association (Safpa) urged loved ones to bury their loved ones within four days of their death to ease the strain on funeral homes caused by the burden.
“Load-shedding has a ripple effect on those who are grieving,” Safpa said. “Besides seeing their loved ones rotting away quickly, they have to endure delays in the death certificate registration process in the home affairs. [department] because of the load-shedding. This forced the family to postpone the funeral to a later date.
The increasing burden spread over the past year has seen many parlors deal with “deteriorating” bodies in refrigerated rooms during power outages.
“Burying relatives in four days, or less, is cost-effective and prevents families from seeing the deceased in a state of disrepair.”
The situation is a national crisis, says Safpa’s Simon Mapoulo. “Soon, we will do the removal and burial the next day.”
‘Funerals don’t happen overnight’
John Storom, chairman of the Funeral Federation of South Africa, said: “In African communities, burials don’t happen overnight. It takes about a week when you have the body in cold storage and you have to make sure it doesn’t get damaged in the process.
But most families don’t have the resources to bury the dead quickly. “It takes time for them to do their insurance claims and get the money to bury them. And if you’re in a community that’s not used to that kind of set-up, where the mourning period takes time, you’re really upset.
Generators are expensive
By law, funeral homes must have a generator on site, so that the storage room cools if the power goes out. Safpa said the price of buying and maintaining generators has become exorbitant and diesel to maintain costs more than R21 per litre.
“Not all generators can power a refrigerator,” Mapoulo said. “We need generators very big and they start at about R90 000 upwards. Many small businesses cannot afford it. The worst thing is that the government has no intention of coming to the party.
Storm agreed saying: “What the same [the government] ignored, many of them are small businesses, so you can’t afford a suitable generator, and even if you do, that means your costs go up.
Typically, these costs are passed on to the client. “With the current economic situation, when you increase prices, the public suffers. This is a very difficult position for us.
Dududu Magano, a spokesperson for the National Association of Funeral Practitioners of South Africa, said many small funeral directors now have to deal with the additional operating costs of diesel or petrol, which they usually do not budget for. “Where did you get the budget to run the generator 12 hours a day?”
Drake said the average funeral takes place nine days after a death.
Critical effect
Basilio said reducing the burden has a critical impact on funeral homes. “With 10 hours of off-loading per day, it can cost a small funeral home as much as R2 500 to R5 000 per day for fuel or diesel for the generator. With larger companies and larger refrigeration facilities, the costs are higher.
Certain funeral directors are equipped with inverters and UPS systems, at great expense.
“With rising costs, funeral costs rise as well as funeral insurance product premiums. This has a negative impact on funeral directors and the public. And, despite the burden, municipal bills have not decreased either.
NFDA members who can pay are taking steps to remove funeral homes from the national grid and supply their own electricity through solar, inverters and UPS.
“However, in some areas, due to the lack of electricity, it affects the water supply, and this is important for our business.”
Drake said, in Port Elizabeth on Saturday, there could be 30 to 80 burials in one cemetery.
“Now, what happens is that there are no robots working to go to the cemetery, so you have to wait in line for 45 minutes to two hours to get there. Instead of finishing at 12, my employees finish at 2 or 3 p.m. and now I have to pay overtime. So, the effect knock-on again back to the consumer.
The outlook is bleak if the government doesn’t intervene, Basilio said. “Since funeral service is an important service, the government can consider discounting electricity to funeral homes.
“Small funeral homes will close their businesses, resulting in job losses and loss of income, while the increase in funeral costs and the increase in funeral product premiums will increase the economic burden on the community.”