Call to partly privatise ailing municipal crematoriums
YET another call has been made for the government to step in and save the city’s crematoriums.
Minority Front leader Shameen Rajbansi has filed a motion calling on the MEC for Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Nomusa Dube-ncube, to privatise municipal crematoriums.
For years, ethekwini Municipality’s crematoriums, including Mobeni Heights, have taken strain and buckled under the pressure of serving the city’s needs.
Rajbansi said it was time government went the private-public route where a private owner could enter into a partnership and take part-ownership of the crematoriums. This would ensure they were better maintained.
The move is expected to be discussed in March at the next sitting of the legislature.
“We had fought for a cemetery to be built near Woodview in Phoenix. After that became a reality, the next phase was to call for a crematorium. Considering the Mobeni Heights and Verulam crematoriums are dysfunctional most of the time, the worst-case scenario is that the crematorium in Phoenix would also become a white elephant,” she said
To avoid this, Rajbansi said the industry needed to be highly regulated, which led to the idea of privatisation or partnerships between the municipality, private groups and religious organisations.
“It is essential to have this directive in mind as affordability is a key issue for the city. Death is a very important part of all our lives. Let this be done in dignity,” she said.
Kwazulu-natal Funeral Directors Association chairperson Logan Chetty said the group was looking to escalate the matter.
“We already wrote to the city’s management calling for the privatisation of crematoriums. Our next hope is to file an application with the high court. Crematoriums are part essential services. If they (the city) can’t do it, they must give it to private people,” he said.
Parks and Recreation head Thembinkosi Ngcbobo said the matter brought up by the MF was not a new one.
“The proposal regarding the Phoenix cemetery has already been on the table. We have said that any person who wants to build and privately run a crematorium must come forward,” he said.
On privatising existing municipal crematoriums, Ngcobo said: “I don’t see any reason for this. This matter is not new, we do want to extend these services, it’s a matter of the council providing land so people can build and privately run these crematoriums.”