African funerals = expensive celebrations
Traditional African funerals are usually a celebration of life, rather than a mournful event. Suffice to say, when it comes to funerals in townships and rural areas, costs are high and can easily run into thousands of rands.
When burying the dead in townships and in rural South Africa this is what we are looking at:
- A township funeral or a funeral in the rural parts of South Africa can cost anything from R15,000 upwards.
- Mortuary costs are expensive as the body is usually kept for quite long.
- Transporting relatives to and from the funeral, including the hiring of buses and taxis, from far and wide costs a small fortune.
- A cow will probably be slaughtered, together with a couple of goats – this can cost thousands. Over and above the meat we need to take into account side dishes and drinks.
- A church service, flowers, and the rental of tents for the celebration afterwards as well as chairs need to be covered.
- Then there are new clothes to impress, hair to be braided, hats, shoes, bags, suits and ties and more.
The reason why it is so important to have funeral cover in rural South Africa and the plethora of townships dotted throughout South Africa are many – don’t be left carrying the expense when your loved ones die – instead get smart and ensure you have enough funeral insurance cover to attend to all the details.