Undertakers prepare for protest-fuelled Covid death spike, as Jhb cemeteries burst

Overcrowding and hundreds of weekly burials has turned Johannesburg’s cemeteries into potential super-spreader locations for Covid-19, while undertakers struggle to keep up with the demand for burials.

Though numbers appear to be stabilising, compared to June, according to the South African Funeral Practitioners Association (SAFPA), last week’s civil unrest has prompted undertakers to brace for another surge in funerals in the coming weeks.

According to Johannesburg City Parks spokesperson Reggie Moloi, there are only four of its 37 cemeteries in Johannesburg open for new grave sites, while the rest are only used for reopenings in which graves are opened on top of existing ones with permission from families.

Since June, the City has already recorded over 5000 burials, with that month alone accounting for 3000 burials. Over the last two weeks, there have been 2481 burials in total, including Covid-19 funerals. In the second week of July there were 1384 burials and the following week, ending this Thursday, this number went down to 1097.

Covid-19 funerals for this weekend alone included 153 at Olifantsvlei Cemetery, 77 at the Waterfall Cemetery in Midrand, 84 at the Westpark Cemetery. The Diepsloot cemetery barely gets used on a daily basis according to Moloi.

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SAFPA spokesperson Vuyo Mabindisa says last week’s riots led to a kind of panic buying of coffins, as fears of a national shortage were sparked by the multiple road closures and looting. Funeral directors have been under immense pressure overseeing dozens of daily burials in some of Gauteng’s busiest cemeteries.

“This third wave is worse than the first two waves and we are barely coping, because we are doing burials every single day. However, we can tell its declining now, but I would say by only 2% this month and we will have to see if it picks up again maybe in the next week but we are not out of the woods.”

Mabindisa’s establishment, Vuyo’s Funerals directed an average of 20 funerals a day at the peak of the third wave. This month he has seen this average drop to around 15 per day.

“The only big challenge we are facing now is the amount of graves that have to be dug in the cemeteries,” says Mabindisa.

Sometimes families have to watch while their loved ones’ grave is being dug infront of them right before the actual burial because directors and city officials simply can’t keep up with the demand. Often there are multiple funerals carried out at the same time close to each other, creating a social distancing conundrum.

Under the current lockdown regulations, only 50 people are allowed to attend a funeral. But if those 50 people are standing next to another 50 people, the situation becomes difficult to control for funeral directors. Despite this, Mabindisa says directors remain vigilant about maintaining social distance.

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Moloi says overcrowding in cemeteries is the responsibility of law enforcement, but he also blames funeral directors for making multiple simultaneous bookings for funerals, which is often the cause of the issue. Covid-19 burials are by law expected to be carried out within three days of death, compounding the demand for multiple funerals daily.

In June, The Citizen reported that several families complained that the demand in reburial-only cemeteries led to their loved one’s graves being opened and used without their permission, with many only finding out when another family member dies and the family grave must be used again.

Simnikiweh@citizen.co.za