"This coronavirus has made our work much more difficult. As I leave home to go to work, I am not sure I will return Covid-19-free," said Magreth Morongwa Madzima from Lethaha Funerals & Memorial Stones in Musina.
Madzima (51) has been working as an undertaker for more than 18 years, but now she feels her work has become a danger to herself and to her family. "We normally keep deceased bodies for almost a week. Now we cannot go beyond two days, and some of our customers refuse to collect the bodies within two days. Others insist that we open the coffins for body viewing, but we cannot do that. All of this is a challenge to us as funeral undertakers." Madzima said that their fridges were getting full because most of their customers from Zimbabwe did not collect the bodies of their loved ones in time.
However, in a public notice issued by Limpopo MEC for Health Phophi Ramathuba on 13 January this year, funeral undertakers are instructed to ensure that the mortal remains of people who die of Covid-19 are not touched.
As a means of protecting herself from the virus, Madzima said that she has to take extra precautions. "I have already taught my children that they must not in any way come near me before I've taken a bath. It was difficult during the first days, but now they are used to it," she said.
Madzima suggests that the government visit funeral parlours and assist in fumigating all buildings, and for moral support too.
During a virtual meeting with funeral undertakers in the province on 11 January, Ramathuba said she believed that they were key stakeholders in the fight against Covid-19. "Their [funeral undertakers'] full commitment and involvement in the fight against the virus at this stage is crucial," she said later in a media statement.