AS of February 1, no Indian- or white-owned funeral directors will be allowed to conduct burials in townships across Durban.
This was the warning issued by the National Funeral Practitioners Association of South Africa (Nafupa).
The organisation gave the warning during a media briefing in uMlazi Wednesday.
They said their plan to prevent Indian and white funeral businesses from operating in townships was new and was being started in Durban with hopes that “its success” would be replicated in townships across the country to the benefit of Nafupa’s 540 nationwide membership.
However they are likely to face resistance as funeral directors in the city say they will not comply with the demand and the National Funeral Directors Association (NFDA) urged Nafupa to engage in ways that did not encourage violence.
“Right now, I am driving to deliver a letter to one of the big (insurance and funeral) companies, that they should stay out of the funeral business and just focus on insurance, they cannot be a player and a referee,” said Muzi Hlengwa, Nafupa’s president.
“We have met with other funeral directors and we informed them that they ‘had eaten quite a lot of our money’ and they should now step aside, and they agreed,” he said.
“We will intensify our efforts in all the townships across Durban to make sure that no Indian or white funeral company is servicing those communities. Our demonstrations are going to be peaceful.”
He warned Indian and white funeral companies to heed the warning and stay away.
“We do not want chaos, imagine a situation where we now have to stop a car( transporting the deceased), we do not want that.”
He said as part of the new arrangement, the bereaved family should instead claim money from their current insurers.
“They will go to their current funeral (schemes) and claim money and pick a black funeral director in the township to carry out the burial,” he said.
He said they had engaged with numerous community organisations and political parties who were all supportive of the plan.
At least one funeral company The Mercury spoke to on Wednesday said they were aware of the demands but would not be complying.
“It’s up to the individual family to choose, if they want to use our funeral parlour it’s up to them,” said an employee, who declined to be named.
“My understanding is these guys’ business is suffering and they are not making as much money as they thought they would, now they're claiming whites, Indians and coloureds are taking away their business."
Dr Lawrence Konyana, president of the NFDA, said they were aware of the demands. “We condemn the manner in which they are talking, which threatens violence.
"At the end of the day its all about the client - its the client who chooses where they go to get cover and the client has to have a say.”