Funeral industry threatens to shut down home affairs branches

Undertakers say department kills their business

07 April 2021 - 10:40 By Promise Marupeng
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Police officers engage in discussions with members of the SA Chamber of Undertakers outside the department of home affairs head office in Pretoria.
Police officers engage in discussions with members of the SA Chamber of Undertakers outside the department of home affairs head office in Pretoria.
Image: VELI NHLAPO

A national task team of undertakers has threatened to shut down home affairs branches nationwide as part of their final push to force the department to amend its regulations on the certificate of competence (COC) that gives them the right to remove bodies from mortuaries, hospitals and forensic laboratories for burial.

The undertakers cannot register any death at home affairs without the COC, which is issued by the department of health.

On Tuesday, the unification task team of eight executive members staged a sit-in at the home affairs head offices in Pretoria, demanding to have a meeting with the department's  director-general Livhuwani Makhonde. 

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