The leader of the Al Jama-ah political party says that because Muslims have to bury a person soon after they pass away, people are taking short cuts to get the funeral done.
Ganief Hendricks has raised the alarm over whether the Muslim community is ready to cope with burials that will have to comply with environmental guidelines.
Twenty-three Muslims have so far passed away from the COVID-19 pandemic in South Africa.
Hendricks says the diagnosis for COVID-19 deaths is also flawed.
“After a person dies they have to take the test and only two day later the results become available, then you don’t have to follow the regulations. So what Muslim undertakers are doing, we’ve advised them is treat every body has a COVID-19 death, follow all the precautions so our bodies don’t have to lie in freezers for two days which triples the viruses.”
Meanwhile Hendricks says Ml Galil Brinkhuis, leader of Al Jama-ah in the Western Cape Legislature raised concerns that there are insufficient Muslim undertakers who are accredited to bury COVID- 19 affected Muslim deaths.
It is believed that in the Western Cape there are only 5 who are trained to wash, clothe and bury deceased bodies and 2 of those are women.
Hendricks says a lot of personal protective equipment (PPE) equipment is required when attending to a funeral.
“Some Ulama bodies have tried, like the MJC (Muslim Judicial Council) to train the burial workers. But one of the experts who’s very close to the party has indicated to us that in spite of their best endeavors we are concerned that after a funeral there will be further infections.”
Hendricks says they are also very concerned about the collection of Muslim bodies from hospitals.
“If Muslim undertakers come there without body bags and not properly togged out, they will give the bodies to a non-Muslim undertaker and if the bodies are not fetched in a short space of time, the bodies will be cremated because the regulations provide that the bodies must be disposed of as soon as possible. We are really worried that Muslims and Jewish people, we are against cremations.”
Hendricks says the costs of funerals have also spiked under the COVID-19 lockdown.
Faizel Patel
Listen to the interview with Ganief Hendricks
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