Lockdown restrictions and regulations on how funerals must be conducted have caused considerable disruption, anxiety and misunderstandings around funeral practices in parts of the Eastern Cape.
The research was commissioned by Eastern Cape premier Oscar Mabuyane through the Eastern Cape Socio-Economic Consultative Council after an increase in Covid-19 infections during funerals. that restricted access to viewing and interaction with the corpse was a major source of anxiety.
According to the research, in some cases authorities attempted to shorten funerals to prevent people lingering. In June, at a funeral in uMhlontlo local municipality, the body arrived from Johannesburg at 4am. “In the dark, the family welcomed neighbours to view the body. The next day, 50 people attended the funeral, as stipulated under Covid-19 restrictions. Fearing prosecution, they shortened the funeral service to under two hours.
"The mother said only two people spoke at the funeral. She cut it short because she feared she would go to jail if they broke the law. Later, she regretted the decision because the funeral felt incomplete,” read the report. During the early stages of the lockdown, when alcohol sales were prohibited, local police raided several funerals to overturn drums ofand food was critical to the communal ethos ofBeer was also needed to reward the gravediggers, whose spades and picks are symbolically washed with traditional beer.
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