In South Africa, families traditionally gather around the deceased for a week, sometimes longer. But now, because of endemic power cuts, the preservation of the bodies is a challenge and the undertakers want to bury the dead as soon as possible. “We see many putrefied bodies,” the South African Funeral Practitioners Association (Safpa), representing the sector, said in a statement this week.
In the first African industrial power, the electricity crisis has worsened since 2022 and the power is cut sometimes for more than eleven hours a day. Breakdowns, shortages, the public company Eskom, which produces 90% of electricity in South Africa and eaten away by debts after years of mismanagement, is struggling with aging and poorly maintained power plants.
The country has been subjected for months to scheduled load shedding, for several hours and several times a day, reaching record durations. For funeral directors, these cuts mean shut down refrigeration systems and decomposing bodies.
The sector encourages families to bury their dead within four days. Also to keep costs down, as homes and businesses that can afford it are running on diesel-powered generators, amid general inflation and rising fuel prices.
Slowdowns for burial permits
Grace Matila, a 52-year-old undertaker based in Johannesburg, told AFP that she is struggling to cope with the additional costs and is considering increasing the bills. The repeated cuts also deteriorate the machines which eventually give up the ghost: “Fortunately, I had a spare compressor for my cold room, otherwise can you imagine what could have happened? “, storms Mr. Matila.
“A colleague had to close his business because the authorities discovered a decomposing body,” said Mike Nqakula, 61, who has an undertaker’s business in the small town of Uitenhage, in the south of the country. “Generators aren’t cheap,” he adds.
In addition to logistical problems, professionals in the sector face delays in reporting deaths and obtaining burial permits: the administrations that issue death certificates are also unable to issue the documents in the event of power outages.
In some remote areas, “it sometimes takes several hours before you manage to reach an ambulance and it arrives on the spot to formally declare the death”, then finally organize the removal of the body, deplores Dududu Magano, spokesperson for the Safpa, referring to telephone networks also disrupted by power cuts. “A domino effect,” he sighs.
“Havoc in businesses”
The recent announcement of a tariff hike to bail out Eskom’s coffers has provoked anger in the country. Several thousand South Africans demonstrated this week in Johannesburg and Cape Town, at the call of the first opposition party (Democratic Alliance, DA).
President Cyril Ramaphosa, who acknowledged that the crisis is “devastating businesses” but added that it “cannot be resolved overnight”, said he opposed the increase.
South Africa still draws 80% of its electricity from coal, generating serious pollution denounced by environmental activists. An envelope of 98 billion dollars was approved for the energy transition of African power at COP27.
