The South African Funeral Practitioners Association (SAFPA) says its members are experiencing burial backlogs and an influx of deaths.
SAFPA CEO, Monageng Legae said last year this time, it would take him a month to bury 70 people, however, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, his funeral parlour has buried 70 people in just two weeks.
He said the Department of Home Affairs is making the problem worse by not processing death certificates which are needed before a burial can take place.
He says funeral parlours have had to keep bodies that are Covid-19 positive for longer than necessary because of this backlog.
Undertakers in the Eastern Cape have had similar complaints stating that bodies are piling up.
The National Covid-19 death toll is standing on 4 172.
President Cyril Ramaphosa, who addressed the nation on Sunday, said the new expected death toll from the pandemic is 50 000.
