Durban - THE recently purchased new furnace at Mobeni Heights crematorium was met with joy by organisations who use the facilities. However, it will be another three months before it is operational.
The Mobeni Heights furnace has been a sore point for the Chatsworth community as people from the area have been forced to use other crematoria outside the suburb.
EThekwini Municipality spokesperson Msawakhe Mayisela said the furnace was brought in on January 30.
He said the installation was under way and would take about three months. Mayisela said other furnaces would be purchased next year and in 2022, but this would be dependent on whether the procurement process occurred without hitches. There would not be new furnaces for any other crematoria in the city.
Logan Chetty, the director of the KwaZulu-Natal Funeral Directors Association, said he was grateful the furnace was finally being installed.
“Life will be easier for everybody. It will save people some money,” he said.
Chetty said he was confident the furnace would last a “few years”.
He said he had been fighting the municipality for a number of years for it to be installed and even went to the public protector to get the matter addressed.
He said Chatsworth had a large population and expected the crematorium to be functioning seven days a week.
“I’m very grateful that the municipality came through,” he said.
Ashwin Trikamjee, the chairperson of the South African Hindu Maha Sabha, expressed happiness.
“The demands of the crematorium are quite huge More people who are not Hindus are using the crematorium as it’s more economical, and people see the hygienic aspect to it,” he said.
Trikamjee said people could now go to Mobeni Heights instead of other sites such as Clare Estate Crematorium, which were more costly, he said.
Thegrajh Kassie, honorary secretary of Clare Estate Crematorium, said: “It will definitely ease the pressure. It will be easier for people from the south.”
Kassie said they had people who had come from as far as Cape Town and
Johannesburg being cremated at Clare Estate.