A proposal to create an ombudsman to regulate the funeral industry is long overdue. For far too long now grieving families have had to put up with the indignity of shoddy, inhumane treatment at the hands of shady operators who think nothing of fleecing the poor with extortionate ''add on'' charges in exchange for pathetic services. It is staggering that we have a Consumer Protection Act, as well as a battery of ombudsmen, with powers to stamp out abuses, for just about every sector, including health, the banks, the media, financial services and the state (think public protector) but the R4.5-billion a year death industry has been allowed to operate virtually unregulated and without an enforceable code of conduct.And yet the abuses meted out to grieving families by some funeral operators continue unchecked and are too numerous to catalogue.Horror stories - tellingly referred to as ''atrocities'' by funeral industry insiders - have become so common that they often fail to surprise shell-shocked mourners.Bodies left to rot in mortuaries infested with rats, collusion between undertakers and dodgy hospital and mortuary workers to ensure a steady flow of corpses, families not getting the burials they paid for, products sold with profit margins of up to 1200%, even the theft of loved ones' organs . the industry is riddled with abuses.Until now people have simply had no one to complain to, apart from fellow mourners or the news media.There are many decent undertakers and funeral parlours out there - but also scores of shady operators who have got away with the most appalling practices for far too long.It's surely in everyone's interests that the industry be cleaned up.We believe that the establishment of a funeral industry ombudsman with real ''teeth'', supported by an enforceable code of conduct, should be fast-tracked...