'The hospitals aren't ready' - Bob Mabena loses grandmother to Covid-19

Radio veteran Bob Mabena is mourning the death of his grandmother to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The star revealed on Sunday that his grandmother had died just days earlier after contracting the disease.

Sharing his condolences with a follower who had lost his mother, Bob recounted how his grandmother had contracted the disease while she was being treated in hospital for a lung infection.

He said within three days she had died.

“The hospitals aren’t ready,” he said.

Bob said the burial protocols were difficult and brought home the reality of the disease.

The SA Cemeteries Association (Saca) released guidelines in March outlining how to bury or cremate someone who has died of Covid-19. The guidelines were released in  preparation for “mass burials and cremation of Covid-19 victims”.

Saca said: “In anticipation of the increase in the death rate, municipalities are recommended to put plans in place if this has not already been done.

“Ideally, remains should be cremated, as advised by health authorities locally and internationally. However, this may pose a challenge as SA has very few crematorium facilities.”

It recommended that municipalities identify land that can be used if deaths overwhelm the capacity of cemeteries , and “bodies should be buried in clearly marked individual graves”.

Lockdown rules prohibit more than 50 people attending a funeral, and all night vigils.