Cemeteries association urges municipalities ‘to prepare for the worst’

SACA says it’s concerned there aren’t enough grave sites to accommodate a large number of deaths at one time.

The organisation’s chairperson Pepe Dass has urged municipalities to identify burial places.

“If there’s a huge spike in deaths, which is going to put a huge impact with regards to providing graves, what plans do municipalities have in place to deal with this sudden demand?

“In the absolute worst-case scenario where we have lots of bodies that have to buried very quickly and there may not be single graves available and it might be necessary to dig mass graves.”

This as the death toll from the coronavirus outbreak in the country climbed to 13 on Tuesday.

ALSO READ:

Dass admits the suggestion might be met with resistance.

“It’s not one on top of the other, it’s basically in preparation of the graves. Instead of digging one hole, to put it crudely, you dig long trenches.

“But what we anticipate is concerns from the public, how do we identify those graves?

“Family will come around, they will want to visit the grave of a loved one and want the assurance that this is their grave,” Dass adds.

But he says municipalities would have to come to work around those restrictions.

The association also says there is a need to look at alternative burial methods.

“We’ve been promoting alternatives that are more friendly to the environment and more sustainable in various ways, including the cost of the services. We’ve been promoting cremation but that’s of course that is not something that easily accepted in this country.

“South Africa will probably have to follow suite in one way or another.”