Durban – For a Durban undertaker, seeing children lose their parents during the Covid-19 pandemic was more than he could deal with.
“It was the most heartbreaking thing to witness. Imagine having to bury a mother and father, while the children cannot be comforted because of Covid-19 regulations,” said Koushik Maharaj, the owner of Newlands City Funeral.
Maharaj was commenting on the anniversary of the first case of Covid-19 being detected in South Africa on March 5 last year.
He said at times during the past year they were conducting up to 12 Covid-19 funerals a day, working until 3am.
“Sleep was elusive, we were sleeping around two to three hours a day, working at four different crematoriums in and around Durban.”
The other challenge for Maharaj was explaining to the families that they could not perform the last rites to bathe and dress their loved ones for a funeral, or see their faces.
“So many couldn’t accept this or understand it; they thought these were our own rules, and when we spoke to them we had to handle them with the utmost sensitivity because these people were in mourning.”
He said he also lost valuable time with family members.
“My son and I run the business and everyday we woke up we would feel a sore throat or tiredness and think we were infected.
“We also got tested every second week – everyone in the office did – but thank God to date we have all remained Covid free.”
Maharaj said while many would say that funeral parlours made money, that wasn’t important.
“The numbers are visibly dropping, we have one Covid funeral tomorrow (Friday), and I am hoping that the vaccine brings in a new glimmer of hope, because God knows we need our lives back.”
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