Funeral undertakers threaten shutdown

They can't bury, cremate bodies without certificate of competence

10 May 2021 - 09:58
By mpho koka AND Mpho Koka
Aggrieved burial undertakers protesting outside the department of home affairs in the Cape Town CBD last year. File photo.
Image: Esa Alexander Aggrieved burial undertakers protesting outside the department of home affairs in the Cape Town CBD last year. File photo.

Funeral undertakers have threatened to embark on a nationwide shutdown of all department of home affairs offices from tomorrow because of the pinch small undertakers are feeling  financially. 

This, according to the body representing undertakers, is due to the department’s failure 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. They also cannot book burial sites or cremate bodies without the certificate.

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