A funeral nearly turned to chaos when mourners rejected the decomposed body of a deceased villager from the funeral undertaker on Friday. After a lengthy war of words, the body of Thinavhuyo Mugomba (76) of Makonde village, north of Thohoyandou, was finally laid to rest. Now, the Mugomba family wants answers from the Giyani branch of the SA Burial Society and Mortuary why the body was decomposed and smelly because it was in good condition when they took it to the mortuary.

Family members say Thinavhuyo died on April 4 at Donald Fraser Hospital, after a long illness. The son of the deceased, Watson Mugomba (51), says the family is worried because they got a raw deal from the funeral undertakers.

He said his mother joined the SA Burial Society at the local pension pay point in 1993. “Death benefits included a hearse, special coffin, family car and groceries, but the company never kept any of their promises when my mother died. She was paying a monthly premium of R70 at the time of her death.”

Another family member, David Nembahe, says the undertakers failed to provide a decent coffin as stipulated in their policy. “They brought an ordinary bakkie to transport the body and they brought no family car. The family was not even given the groceries as promised to the deceased when she joined the society. We were also surprised to learn that the body of our deceased mother was partially decomposed when it was delivered to us in the early hours of Friday. The body was fine when it was taken to the mortuary. We wanted to give our family member a decent burial but the undertakers took us for a ride. This is exploitation at its worst…”

Giyani Area Manager of the SA Burial Society and Mortuary, Godfrey Mongwe, refuted the claims that the deceased’s body was in good condition when it was brought to their mortuary. “The body was already decomposed when they brought it to us and there was nothing we could do about it. Even if one has high-quality refrigerators, there is nothing you can do to make the body good again.”

On the issue of the groceries that were not given to the bereaved family, Mongwe said the family opted for a better coffin. “They did not like the coffin that the deceased was insured for. Instead, they wanted a more expensive one. So, they have to forfeit the groceries to make way for the more expensive coffin.”

Mongwe further said the company could not take a hearse and a family car to the bereaved family because it is mountainous area where the roads are extremely damaged. “We have good hearses and family cars but we cannot take risks by taking them to places where there are no roads at all. We had no other alternative except to use the bakkie so that the funeral would not flop. If the family has problems, they are free to come to our office so that we can address it.”