A PIETERMARITZBURG family's grief was compounded when a malfunctioning furnace door at the Mountain Rise Crematorium forced them to postpone their loved one's cremation.
Samantha Tessa Athiah, 47, of Pinetown, lost her battle to leukemia last Thursday.
Her elder brother, Hillary Rajah, 50, of Raisethorpe, said Athiah's cremation was scheduled for 2pm on Sunday at the Mountain Rise Crematorium.
“Imbali Funeral Services handled all the arrangements. Since we were all born and brought up in Pietermaritzburg, we wanted my sister's funeral and cremation to be held here,” said Rajah.
“We initially wanted the funeral on Saturday but the crematorium was not available and we were then forced to have it on Sunday,” he said.
He said on the day of the funeral, after everyone had reached the crematorium and the body was about to be taken from the hearse and into the crematorium, they were told about the furnace issue.
“Imagine, the doors of the hearse had just opened and we were taking my sister’s body out when someone from the crematorium came running out to say we could not have the cremation."
He said they were told the cremator door was malfunctioning.
“We were in shock. There was no prior correspondence. We did not know what to say or do,” said Rajah.
He said once the family digested what had happened, they quickly started working with the funeral home to find another crematorium.
“When I told the mourners, they thought we were joking until they saw us putting the body back into the hearse. We couldn’t believe what was happening.
“The body was taken back to the funeral home and our family was left traumatised and distraught. My parents are in their 70s. As it is, my sister's death has broken them. Seeing the funeral halted, hurt them further,” said Rajah.
He said they eventually managed to arrange for the cremation at the Cato Ridge Crematorium on Monday.
“This went ahead with no issues except my mother took ill and collapsed. I think she was too emotionally drained from the previous day’s ordeal,” said Rajah.
He said their whole family was traumatised by the incident.
“Having a double funeral is the worst thing anyone could ever experience. Monday’s funeral had a small turnout compared to the large one on Sunday. No one could attend the funeral due to it being a weekday,” said Rajah.
He criticised the manner in which the crematorium handled the situation.
“Why didn’t they phone the funeral service and inform them of the issue? Instead they confronted us moments before the cremation. If they had told us earlier, we would have made other arrangements. I don’t want other families to go through the pain we faced," he said.
Rajah claimed this was not the first time the crematorium had this issue.
“I was told by the Cato Ridge Crematorium and Imbali Funeral Services that a few months ago, during a cremation, the body only burnt halfway before the furnace ran out of gas. They made no plan to help the family but instead they pulled the body out and sent it to the Cato Ridge Crematorium,” claimed Rajah.
“My sister was a kind and loving person, who already suffered from cancer, so for her to also have her funeral disrupted was truly heart-breaking for us. This will stay with us for years to come. My sister's two children have not gotten over it and I don’t think they will any time soon."
He said they had sent a letter of complaint to the local municipality but had received no response.
Jay Jugwanth, activist and spokesman for the Raisethorpe community, also sent a letter to the Msunduzi Municipality.
“The Msunduzi Municipality and in particular their spokesperson, Nothobeko Mkhize, needs to be enlightened that when a cremation fails to take place, it is not an inconvenience but severe emotional trauma experienced by the grieving family.
“That the cremator door malfunctioned as a result of a power surge is beyond human control. However, what followed thereafter is characteristic of the incompetence of the municipality. The operator needs to be disciplined for he/she took no initiative to contact another official? Further, given that the crematorium was hired, it was compulsory for the supervisor to be on standby.
“Hindus also pay extreme prices for funerals and nothing prohibits the entrusted funeral company to conduct an inspection in loco or make a simple call to the crematorium given the municipality’s history of ineffectiveness. At many levels, this trauma could have been avoided if only the initiative was taken. However, negligence and incompetency prevailed. The Midlands Hindu Society must take a more dynamic approach to address this issue and prevent further trauma to families. The Hindu community cannot be incessantly prejudiced,” read the letter.