COFFINS IN SHORT SUPPLY AS DEATHS INCREASE

MANZINI – As deaths, most of which are due to the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic rise, undertakers are facing a shortage of coffins and caskets.

The undertakers, who source their coffins from South Africa, are said to been running low on stock. This is a challenge that is said to have been brought about by the high number of deaths due to COVID-19 and other incidents that were recorded in the past couple of weeks. The undertakers relayed that as much as they had a stock pile of coffins, their supply was running low and there was an impending challenge from their suppliers. One of the undertakers, Dups Funeral Home and Crematorium, relayed that the challenge was seemingly escalating. The organisation’s General Manager Kyle De Souza said he had gathered from some of the industry players that they were already facing a shortage of coffins. He said Dups Funeral Home and Crematorium had stock-piled, though the stock was being depleted at a fast rate.

Suppliers

He said they had placed an order with their suppliers for new stock. De Souza said they were informed that when they placed their order this week, they would get it at a later date as there was a backlog in the orders. Also, B3 Group’s Director Dan Zikalala said the shortage was looming as there was a backlog with suppliers and the turnaround time for receiving stock would be prolonged. Another undertaker, who said he was facing the same challenge, was Themba Makhanya of Santa Lucia Funeral Services (Pty) Ltd. He said a number of products were hard to source of late. Makhanya said the coffins that were mostly used by many bereaved families were in short supply. The businessman said today, he would be collecting the last batch from his supplier in Kwazulu-Natal.

“Most undertakers stock from South Africa and they are seemingly having a challenge to meet the demand,” Makhanya said. Worth noting is that this challenge has surfaced after a number of undertakers had started reporting that they had stretched their resources and were now struggling to cope with the constant increases in the number  of people succumbing to COVID-19-related illnesses daily.

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