The KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) Health Department has increased the number of mortuary vehicles by adding 16 new vehicles to medico-legal mortuaries across the province.
This is to improve response times for collecting mortal remains. The vehicles include two disaster trucks that are able to carry up to 12 bodies at a time while the remaining bakkies can carry a maximum of four bodies each.
Provincial MEC Nomagugu Simelane expressed concern over the rising rate of new COVID-19 infections in KZN.
“Some of the cars pathologists have been using are worn out some don’t work very well which affects their response time in collecting mortal remains because there’s a shortage of vehicles. Sometimes they experience a breakdown while carrying a body. So we have started the process to improve this. But since we don’t have a budget we will purchase these vehicles every financial year.”
In January, funeral parlour owners said they are under immense pressure and are battling to cope with the high number of burials they have to perform daily due to deaths from COVID-19.
They say bodies are piling up and at times they are forced to wait at the cemeteries for graves to be dug.
The pandemic has drastically transformed the death-care industry with staff also fearing contracting the virus.
National Funeral Practitioners Association of SA President Muzi Hlengwa says the situation at funeral parlours is saddening.
“It is very different. It is something that you have never seen before. As I speak to you now, I am busy trying to ensure that coffin suppliers re-open earlier than they are supposed to. We have run out of coffins, we have run out of space at the mortuary. We are even requesting that those who can afford or are able to must try and get extra mortuary facilities, even if it is containers, temporary containers so that we have additional space. We run out of space, some funerals have to be postponed because we don’t have space.”
Video: Hlengwa paints a horrific picture of what is currently happening at funeral parlours
